Robert Gilliard Dole des Monts Pinot Noir 2015
Winemaker Notes
Critical Acclaim
All VintagesThis wine offers aromas of tart red cherry, strawberry and vanilla. On the palate, there are flavors of cola, cinnamon and nutmeg, lifted by bright acidity on the finish.
He was succeeded in 1918 by his son, Robert Gilliard, who enlarged the Estates, adding numerous properties situated at the heart of the vine-growing area on the slopes above Sion. He enlarged as well the cellars he had inherited and soon distinguished himself through his style of vinification "à la vaudoise". He built a great reputation for the "Fendant les Murettes", still unanimously appreciated by connoisseurs to this day.
Under the direction of François Gilliard, who took over in 1953, the firm expanded further acquiring vines at la Cotzette and building new cellars at Platta. Specialities of Valais (Petite Arvine, Amigne, Muscat, Ermitage, Malvoisie) contributed to the national and international renown of Gilliard's range.
In the firm's centenary year of 1985 with no heir apparent to continue the line, the Gilliard family appointed Willy Becker, related by marriage to the founding family, to continue the work undertaken by the three generations of the family. He his now assisted by his son, Claude, who represents the fifth generation.
Enhancing quality and diversity of wine grapes in recent years after the Swiss government lifted import controls on wine, Switzerland is beginning to gain some ground aside its European neighbors. While its main variety is the white Chasselas, more than half of Switzerland’s wine production is red. The country has 15,000 ha of vineyards mainly in the cantons of Geneva, Neuchâtel, Ticino, Valais and Vaud.
Thin-skinned, finicky and temperamental, Pinot Noir is also one of the most rewarding grapes to grow and remains a labor of love for some of the greatest vignerons in Burgundy. Fairly adaptable but highly reflective of the environment in which it is grown, Pinot Noir prefers a cool climate and requires low yields to achieve high quality. Outside of France, outstanding examples come from in Oregon, California and throughout specific locations in wine-producing world. Somm Secret—André Tchelistcheff, California’s most influential post-Prohibition winemaker decidedly stayed away from the grape, claiming “God made Cabernet. The Devil made Pinot Noir.”