Gigondas, like all of its neighboring appellations, suffered record losses to its Grenache crop in 2013, so producers were forced to respond in a variety of ways. All of them saw their overall production cut and many opted not to make—or severely reduced quantities of—their special cuvées, which are often based on old-vine Grenache plantings. The majority of wineries chose to increase the percentage of other grape varieties, especially Syrah and Mourvèdre, in their final blends, which has given many of the 2013s an intriguing measure of dark fruit, coupled with high acidity resulting from the late, slow growing season.
