2010 Gigondas La Gille

The 2010 Gigondas La Gille has a dense ruby/purple color and sweet cassis notes intermixed with crushed chalk and acacia flower. It is dense, full-bodied, textured and impressive. As I said last year, the Perrin family is a large one indeed, with brothers Jean-Pierre and Francois sitting at the top of the hierarchy and their four sons, Mathieu, Pierre, Thomas and Marc increasingly taking charge of their negociant business and their extensive estates throughout Southern Rhone. Now controlling over 1200 acres, as well as having a network of contracts, this operation is the equivalent of a major Southern Rhone train operating at high speed. Moreover, they are doing some incredible work in all price ranges. Other 2011s that the Perrin boys have produced include the following wines, which were very good across the board, especially for 2011s. In particular, readers need to take a hard look at their estate in Vinsobres, which is making the finest wines of that appellation, and more recently, what they are doing in Gigondas with the estate they purchased there, Clos des Tourelles. These are special wines. There are now three cuvees of Gigondas from the Perrins - the Gigondas La Gille, the Gigondas Vieilles Vignes and the Gigondas Clos des Tourelles. All three merit serious attention. Tasting the 2010s, which were all set to go into bottle right after my visit, certainly shows that this vintage is impressive, although I'm not sure that Marc and Pierre Perrin haven't done as good a job with their selections in 2011. Three cuvees of Gigondas look to all have outstanding potential and will probably be in bottle by the time this report is published. Importer: Vineyard Brands, Birmingham, AL; tel. (205) 980-8802

The estate’s entry level Gigondas offering and a blend from multiple vineyards, the 2010 Famille Perrin Gigondas La Gille has a traditional feel, with its garrigue, spice-box, leather, dusty earth, and meaty aromatics giving way to medium-bodied, textured, and overall elegant Gigondas. This has outstanding purity of fruit, as well as topnotch balance and underlying structure. It will benefit from short term cellaring and have 8-10 years of prime time.

Bright ruby-red. Heady, seductively perfumed scents of raspberry and cherry preserves, dried lavender and spicecake. Bright, forceful red and dark berry and floral pastille flavors are given spine by tangy acidity, with silky tannins providing further support. A lithe, palate-staining midweight that finishes with very good definition and lingering sweetness.