Sunday, January 6, 2013

Les Trois Couronnes Gigondas, 2007

After tasting through the whole range of Les Trois Couronnes wines (Cotes du Rhone, Vacqueyras, Gigondas, Chateauneuf du Pape), this Gigondas stood out as my favorite. And at one time I found it priced at about $10 to $12 bottle. That's less than half the price of other Gigondas wines, and not much more than the price of a good Cotes du Rhone. Then again, the wine is not as good as my favorite Gigondas wines such as Cayron, Font-Sane and Tourade..

It's a big, powerful wine--as Gigondas bottles tend to be. Dark color and lots of tannin. Aerating the wine with the Rabbit device makes the wine significantly more drinkable. Black plums, spices and more than a hint of underbrush. With aeration, the wine is rich and ripe--perhaps a bit too ripe for my taste. That may be the vintage. For the same price, I'd be willing to take a chance on the 2009 or 2010.

On the second night, the wine shows more nuances of black pepper, skins, stems and seeds. It's a very traditionally made wine and should become more multi-dimensional with a few more years in the bottle--maybe five or six years. That;'s fine with me; I have a few more bottles.

No comments:

Post a Comment