I tasted the 2016 Gigondas les Hauts de Montmirail twice this trip: once blind and once at the domaine. On both, it showed incredible peppery spice and garrigue-driven aromas set against a backdrop of cherries and blackberries. It's full-bodied and concentrated, but it's not about brute force, although on one occasion it seemed more tannic than the other. It's half Grenache aged in tank and half Mourvèdre and Syrah aged in second-year oak.

Very solid, with a focused beam of dark plum, blackberry and boysenberry pate de fruit flavors supported by grippy bramble and tar notes and backed by a lingering mineral edge. A roasted apple wood accent frames all the elements. Best from 2020 through 2035. 600 cases made, 60 cases imported.??–JM??Region: France / Southern Rh?ne / Gigondas Select to Add