Winemaker Notes
Blend: 80% Grenache - 20% Mourvèdre
Professional Ratings
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Decanter
Gentle, fresh earth aromas lurk behind blackberry and blueberry fruit. It's full and flowing with that characteristic purity and glossy smoothness that's Montirius' calling card. A long, flowing finish, very well balanced and landing neatly.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2016 Gigondas Terres des Aines is 80% Grenache and 20% Mourvèdre that's super ripe but stays lively and fresh. Garrigue notes help with that, adding lift to the brandied black cherries and stone fruit. Full-bodied, creamy and supple, it's huge but graceful, lingering elegantly on the finish. It should drink well for a decade.
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Jeb Dunnuck
The same blend, the 2016 Gigondas Terre Des Aines is more opulent and sexier, with lots of blackberry fruit, peppery herbs, earth, and spice aromas and flavors. It's ripe, rounded, and beautifully textured on the palate, with the purity of fruit that's the hallmark of this great vintage.
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James Suckling
Deep and complex nose of Mediterranean herbs that’s remarkably fresh for more than 5 years old. I love the imposing tannin structure that is so well proportioned that it doesn’t dominate at any point on the palate. Plenty of cool, herbal character at the long finish, but also a hint of warmth from alcohol. A blend of grenache with some mourvedre.
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Wine Spectator
This is elegant, with cassis, cherry preserve and damson plum fruit gliding through on a silky but persistent structure. Mineral and black tea notes gild the finish. Very refined overall. Drink now through 2022. 3,330 cases made.
With bold fruit flavors and accents of sweet spice, Grenache, Syrah and Mourvèdre form the base of the classic Rhône Red Blend, while Carignan, Cinsault and Counoise often come in to play. Though they originated from France’s southern Rhône Valley, with some creative interpretation, Rhône blends have also become popular in other countries. Somm Secret—Putting their own local spin on the Rhône Red Blend, those from Priorat often include Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon. In California, it is not uncommon to see Petite Sirah make an appearance.
The Southern Rhône region of Gigondas extends northwest from the notably jagged wall of mountains called the Dentelles di Montmirail, whose highest point climbs to about 2,600 feet. The region and its wines have much in common with the neighboring Chateauneuf-du-Pape except that the vineyards of Gigondas exist at higher elevation and its soils, comprised mainly of crumbled limestone from the Dentelles, often produce a more dense and robust Grenache-based red wine.
The region has a history of fine winemaking, extending back to Roman times. But by the 20th century, Gigondas was merely lumped into the less distinct zone of Côtes du Rhône Villages. However, it was first among these satellite villages to earn its own appellation, which occurred in 1971.
Gigondas reds must be between 50 to 100% Grenache with Syrah and Mourvèdre comprising the bulk of the remainder of the blend. They tend express rustic flavors and aromas of wild blackberry, raspberry, fig, plum, as well as juniper, dried herbs, anise, smoke and river rock. The best are bold but balanced, and finish with impressively sexy and velvety tannins.
The Gigondas appellation also produces rosé but no white wines.