2016 Gigondas Le Lieu Dit
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Tasting notes
From a cooler terroir of sandy soils just beside the domaine, the 2016 Gigondas Le Lieu Dit is another tour de force from this brilliant estate. It sports a medium ruby color as well as a rocking bouquet of kirsch, blackberry liqueur, rose petals, damp earth, incense, and spice. Ultra-fine, seamless, elegant, and pure, it's nevertheless powerful and rich, with awesome intensity. Readers need to snatch up this blockbuster.
Critic scores
Average Score
Richard Hemming MW, jancisrobinson.com
Jeb Dunnuck
More reviews and scores
Big, rich and full-bodied, the 2016 Gigondas le Lieu Dit is old-vine Grenache from a sandy part of the property, aged in demi-muids. It's got huge black cherry, berry and plum fruit, yet remains fresh and vibrant, showing a bit of warmth without going over the top. It should drink well for a decade. Tasted twice, with consistent notes.
Deep brilliant red. Highly perfumed aromas of ripe red berries, exotic spices, garrigue and candied flowers, joined by a smoky mineral nuance that builds steadily in the glass. Smooth and seamless in texture, offering palate-staining raspberry liqueur, spicecake and lavender pastille flavors in a suave marriage of depth and vivacity. Closes sweet, gently tannic and very long, leaving lingering red berry, allspice and floral pastille notes behind.
100% Grenache. Black cherry, fibrous tannic grip leaving a tough, chewy mouthfeel. The structure is impenetrable at present, despite the ripe fruit intensity beneath. Needs time. (RH)