Winemaker Notes
Beautiful garnet color, elegant, brilliant and limpid. The nose is rich, with notes of spices, licorice, roasting, plum. The palate is velvety, round, with well-tanned tannins and a nice freshness, giving great persistence in the finish.
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
The 2018 Gigondas Bois Des Mourres is a more modern styled effort, checking in as 80% Grenache and 10% each Syrah and Mourvèdre brought up in one-third new French oak barrels. Its medium ruby/purple hue is followed by a spicy, Provençal, medium to full-bodied Gigondas with loads of black raspberry and cassis fruits as well as notes of toasted spices, candied flowers, garrigue, and incense. It’s probably not for the staunch traditionalists out there, but its oak is nicely integrated, and it has sweet, polished tannins as well as a beautiful finish. Give bottles a year or two and enjoy over the following decade.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
An oak-aged blend of 80% Grenache, 10% Mourvèdre and 10% Syrah, the 2018 Gigondas Bois des Mourres is more polished and glossier than the regular bottling, with vanilla and cedar notes joining the dark-fruit aromas and flavors. Full-bodied, ripe and velvety, it's a more modern, "international" style of Gigondas, but one that's based on excellent raw materials. The oak lends a bit more structure and length to the finish.
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Wine Enthusiast
Made from 80% Grenache (rounded out by 10% each of Syrah and Mourvèdre) this hulking, explosively ripe wine manages to maintain freshness and vitality. Blackberry and cassis flavors are fleshy but pure, accented by notes of vanilla, clove and tobacco leaf. It's a lavish wine matured 14 months in oak (partially new) and framed by soft, easing tannins.
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.