Guigal Gigondas 2010

As one would to expect from this domain, the 2010 Guigal Gigondas is a deeply colored, full-bodied red that possesses both charm and vigor. Scoring 91 points from Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate, Guigal’s Gigondas, like its predecessors, it is constructed along the lines of the estate’s legendary Châteauneuf-du-Pape. It sports a rich ruby/purple robe and a flamboyant bouquet that offers a cachet of rose petals, violets, and the deep down scents of kirsch and crème de cassis to tantalize the olfactory. On the palate, Guigal’s 2010 Gigondas expands, revealing layer upon layer of black fruits, garrigue, pepper and spice – all neatly wrapped in ripe tannins. Born in a great vintage in the southern Rhône, Guigal’s 2010 Gigondas is both packed and polished. And not surprisingly, it serves as the antithesis of many of the appellation’s less gracious offerings, which under the guise of tradition prefer rusticity to the balance, complexity and longevity that Guigal imparts to its wines. The 2010 Guigal Gigondas is delicious now but will continue to mature for up to a decade or more. For immediate consumption, allow this alluring Gigondas at least 30 minutes of aeration before serving at cool room temperature (no more than 65° F).

One of the delights of Guigal’s Gigondas is its versatility with food. Guigal’s 2010 Gigondas truly shines in the company of all types of meat, pasta and vegetable dishes. Whether the 2010 Guigal Gigondas is served with red meat, white meat, flavorful stews, heady pastas, or rich lentil or bean dishes, it brings a hearty welcome to the table. In Gigondas and throughout the Rhône Valley, a roast leg of lamb, rubbed with fresh garlic, rosemary and thyme provides the quintessential accompaniment to Gigondas. An easy contemporary twist to leg of lamb are spicy lamb sliders. Two other favorite pairings with Guigal’s Gigondas remain a rotisserie chicken, basted with cream and Provencal herbs, and lentil and sausage soup served with crusty bread and flavorful cheese. Cassoulet, Italian sausage and peppers, and Steak au Poivre provide other delicious accompaniments to this wine. We also enjoy classic Italian favorites with Guigal’s 2010 Gigondas: Piedmontese risottos, spicy eggplant dishes, and most tomato laden classics from southern Italy will serve as ideal accompaniments to Guigal’s racy Gigondas, too. Bon appétit!

Marcel Guigal has been called “the world’s greatest living winemaker,” and few would refute that Marcel Guigal, and now his son Philippe, are among the most accomplished winemakers in the world today. Guigal’s sumptuous Rhône wines set the bar and define quality in both the southern and northern Rhône, all of which has earned Guigal a well-deserved reputation for fashioning many of France’s most exciting wines. It has also garnered for Guigal a flood of favorable reviews and countless critical acclaims. Yet, perhaps, even more enviable is Guigal’s knack for consistency. Unfailingly, Guigal’s wines, whether they are red, white, or rosé, top the charts in both good years and bad. Moreover, Guigal’s outstanding wines are now most often the benchmarks by which others are judged in their respective appellations.

Although the Guigals, father and son with a seemingly Midas touch, fashion exemplary Côte Rôtie, Hermitage, St. Joseph, Crozes-Hemitage and Châteauneuf-du-Pape among others, it is Guigal’s sensual, age worthy Gigondas that consistently draws 90+ point scores, and for good reason. Nobody consistently makes better Gigondas than the Guigals.

Gigondas and the neighboring villages of Vacqueyras and Châteauneuf-du-Pape produce the finest red wines of the southern Rhône. Relying upon old vines of Grenache, married to lesser quantities of Syrah, Mourvèdre, and Cinsault, the sleepy little village of Gigondas turns out a startling array of big, beautiful, tasty reds from nearly 2,500 acres of vineyards. Spanning a combination of soils, from the gravelly clay of the flat plains at the base of the craggy Dentelles de Montmirail, to the sheer bedrock of the Dentelles themselves, Gigondas is testament to the belief that in this enchanted corner of Provence one can even extract blood from stones, in the form of deeply colored red wine known as Gigondas.