Domaine de la Tourade Gigondas, 1998

The lamb stew is all the better for having been made with the Clos Saint Jean Vin de Pays Les Calades (see below). And, as I suspected, the Domaine de la Tourade Gigondas is the perfect match for lamb stew.

Three or four years ago, when I last tasted this 1998 Gigondas, I thought it was nearing its end. Drink up, I thought. But old viney Grenache-based wines can fool you. The primary fruit aromas and flavors have given way to beautiful secondary traits, and the wine is just entering its most enjoyable stage. Wish I had more!

I smelled hints of oxidation in April of 2009, and I still smell them tonight. But they have become more attractive, like the crinkly lines around the eyes of a classically beautiful older woman. Delicacy and elegance but with the twinkling power of a good Gigondas underneath. Still some cherries and berries--more dried than fresh tonight but no less enjoyable. And a garden full of garrigue--thyme, rosemary and sage. What the stew lacks, the Gigondas provides very nicely. The finish is intense and deep.