2019 Gigondas Le Plateau
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Tasting notes
Deep ruby. Expansive, smoke- and mineral-tinged cherry pit and black raspberry aromas unfold slowly and take on a bright floral aspect. Chewy and tightly wound on entry, bitter cherry, dark berry preserve and licorice flavors deepen and unwind through the back half. It finishes long and gently chewy, with mounting tannins and resonating cherry and floral notes.
Critic scores
Average Score
Alistair Cooper MW, jancisrobinson.com
Jeff Leve, The Wine Cellar Insider
More reviews and scores
All Mourvèdre, the 2019 Gigondas Le Plateau is a full-bodied, rich, powerful wine. Revealing a deep purple/plum color as well as lots of darker fruits, new leather, graphite, and ground pepper aromatics, it has masses of ripe tannins, beautiful balance, and a great finish. It’s a seriously good wine, yet 4-5 years of bottle age are recommended. This cuvée comes from a single parcel of vines planted in 1922.
The nearly 100-year-old Mourvèdre vines cropped a mere 10 hectoliters per hectare for the 2019 Gigondas Le Plateau, meaning there are just three demi-muids. It's a powerful, richly tannic version of this wine, full-bodied but not inelegant, marrying plummy fruit with spicy complexities reminiscent of tree bark, star anise, clove and more. While reasonably open as a barrel sample, I suspect it will close down and require several years of aging after release yet be capable of drinking well for two decades.