Domaine des Bosquets - Gigondas Cuvée Le Lieu Dit 2018

Prestigevinet Cuvée Le Lieu Dit är en massiv Gigondas som lätt kan förväxlas med toppviner från Châteauneuf-du-Pape. Druvorna kommer från de äldsta vinstockarna på ett litet skifte som först nämns som vingård i gamla dokument från 1375 och som ägs av domänen. Den gigantiska buketten innehåller massor av svart, mogen frukt, inslag av kakao och rostade kaffebönor, smaken är mycket massiv och komplex med en imponerande finess, vinet slutar perfekt balanserat med rundade tanniner. Den bör dekanteras, helst några timmar före servering.

Druvor

Grenache 

Tasting note

The 2018 Gigondas Le Lieu Dit (100% Grenache, grown on sand) is a profound success, boasting subtle garrigue aromas that lend layers of complexity to the bold black cherry and raspberry fruit. It's not overly dark in the glass, but seduces with its perfume and silken touch. Full-bodied, but supple and charming, this is a top-notch effort, capped off by a long, mouthwatering finish.

It may have been his first time, but Julien Brechet proved to be a capable Zoom participant when we chatted just before Christmas. He had sent samples of his bottled 2018s and blended, prebottling samples of most of his 2019s. Despite both vintages being on the warm side, he pointed out that they were very different years. "Eighteen was very difficult, not for the quality at the end, but for how to drive the vineyard early," he said, referencing the wet May and first part of June. Although the effects of mildew were mitigated by his hillside location in Gigondas, he felt it did have an effect on the stems, so he destemmed more than usual. Brechet explained, "For me, [it's] more on balance than power, with freshness." 2019 was exactly the contrary; no one was confident of the quality. Yet the wines, he said, are much more concentrated. "You feel the rich side, the solar side, but, finally, the balance is unbelievable—not far from 2016 or 2010." Across the domaine, Brechet experienced yields of 16.5 hectoliters per hectare in 2019. "There was no need to push too much to extract," he said. "After two days, [the must] was dark and concentrated." In the vineyards, the estate has been undergoing conversion to organics and will be certified by EcoCert starting with the wines from the 2021 vintage. He's also begun using some of the biodynamic preparations. From 2019, Brechet has added an additional parcel selection, Roches, which is made from Syrah grown in the same north-facing vineyard as the Le Plateau Mourvèdre. There's also a new luxury cuvée, Le Regard Loin. Blended in secret proportions from the top barrels of the five parcel selections, it is truly impressive. Look for it later in 2021 (or maybe sometime in 2022). The wines emanating from this meticulously run estate must now be considered at or near the very top of the heap within Gigondas. And while Le Regard Loin will undoubtedly be expensive (as are the single-parcel wines), the regular Gigondas and Brechet's Vin de France (from young Gigondas vines) and Côtes du Rhône Villages (largely from Séguret) remain excellent values under $30.

Proprietor Julien Brechet is redefining Gigondas through his exploration of selections parcellaires, which are essentially monovarietal. Le Lieu Dit and La Colline are Grenache, Le Plateau is Mourvèdre and Les Routes is Syrah. The blended cuvée remains an assemblage of four varieties and represents an outstanding value. Brechet is pleased with the quality he's been able to achieve the past few vintages but says he's always striving to do better. On this visit, he poured a couple of older vintages so we could look at his progress, saying that he felt he'd made mistakes at times in the past. Of the La Colline, Brechet says, "Before it was impressive, now it's expressive." One of the keys to the quality he was able to achieve in 2018, he says, was the use of destemming, which he now varies considerably from year to year (in 2017, he used as much as 30% whole clusters). Brechet considers 2018 to be a year that favored Grenache, comparing it to 2006 and 2012. That said, I remain impressed by his Les Routes (Syrah), which has become one of the Southern Rhône's greatest examples of that variety—worth noting is that the genetic material is a sélection massale from Fonsalette, which is said to originate from cuttings provided by the Chave family. Equally impressive is the Châteauneuf-du-Pape Brechet bottles from a tiny patch of 100-year-old vines farmed for him by his brother Laurent (Château de Vaudieu). "The signature of the estate is the finesse," Brechet says.

Robert Parker Wine Advocate