Domaine Gassier Cercius Blanc 2009
-
Robert
Parker
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
-
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The shockingly good white wines include the 2009 Cercius Blanc, a blend of 70% Grenache Blanc and 30% Sauvignon Blanc, all aged in concrete prior to bottling. Light straw-colored with a greenish hue, it exhibits attractive freshness along with plenty of melony fruit intermixed with honeyed citrus, white currants, and flowers. Medium-bodied and long, with some underlying minerality intertwined with its delightful fruit character, it should provide plenty of pleasure over the next 12-18 months.
Other Vintages
2016-
Jeb
Dunnuck
-
Robert
Parker
Domaine Gassier is the result of a shared passion between Tina and Michel Gassier. Located at the tail-end of the Rhône Valley, their vineyards face the marshes of Camargue and the Mediterranean Sea. They have a Rhône Terroir under maritime influence, situated in the southernmost Rhône appellation: Costières de Nîmes. Gassier vineyards have been organic certified since 2023, the first French Vineyard Regenerative Certified, by A Greener World.
They believe in minimal intervention to enhance freshness, balance, and minerality.
As of 2022, Isabel Gassier, the youngest and 5th generation of their family, has joined the Domaine. With great energy and humility, Isabel is leading the transition to regenerative farming. She embodies the next generation, constantly striving for positive change and innovation.
With hundreds of white grape varieties to choose from, winemakers have the freedom to create a virtually endless assortment of blended white wines. In many European regions, strict laws are in place determining the set of varieties that may be used in white wine blends, but in the New World, experimentation is permitted and encouraged. Blending can be utilized to enhance balance or create complexity, lending different layers of flavors and aromas. For example, a variety that creates a soft and full-bodied white wine blend, like Chardonnay, would do well combined with one that is more fragrant and naturally high in acidity. Sometimes small amounts of a particular variety are added to boost color or aromatics. Blending can take place before or after fermentation, with the latter, more popular option giving more control to the winemaker over the final qualities of the wine.
Typically thought of as a baby Chateâuneuf-du-Pape, the term Côtes du Rhône actually doesn’t merely apply to the flatter outskirts of the major southern Rhône appellations, it also includes the fringes of well-respected northern Rhône appellations. White wines can be produced under the appellation name, but very little is actually made.
The region offers some of the best values in France and even some first-rate and age-worthy reds. Red wine varieties include most of the Chateâuneuf-du-Pape varieties like Grenache, Syrah, Mourvedre, Cinsault, and Counoise, as well as Carignan. White grapes grown include Grenache blanc, Roussanne and Viognier, among others.