Santa Duc, Gigondas Hautes Garrigues

Santa Duc, Gigondas Hautes GarriguesA gem in the vintage, the 2004 Gigondas Prestige des Hautes Garrigues offers mature notes of kirsch, black cherries, saddle leather, basil and spice in a rich, full bodied, slightly austere, serious and structured package. You can recognize the Mourvedre driven structure and tannic spine on the palate, and this full bodied beauty has more depth and concentration than most in the vintage. It will keep for another decade or more.

I also tasted two consecutive vintages of the slate Pinot Noir

This is a sophisticated and classy Pessac-Léognan

Oakville fruit but Napa Valley on the label

It should drink well for another decade

On the palate it is full-bodied

which means they lost some 40% of the crop because of the frost

(raised for 24 months in American oak casks)

There is fine intensity to the attractively

garrigue and Sichuan pepper

lilting and persistent finish

(93-95)/2029+

The interplay of creaminess