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As Robert Parker notes in his excellent book ‘Wines of the Rhône Valley’, “Gigondas remains one of the wine world’s great bargains. Gigondas is never a shy or subtle wine. Its appeal is its robust, frank, generous, extroverted character, in addition to its value. It is to be savoured and admired because of these virtues. Great wines from Gigondas will rival those of its neighbor Châteauneuf du Pape and the wines produced under the skillful hands of the Faraud family often do just that.”
Domaine de Cayron
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| Sandrine, Delphine and Rosaline |
Considered by many to be the benchmark producer in the appellation (Robert Parker includes it as one of only three ‘Outstanding’ producers), Cayron crafts a Gigondas of phenomenal richness and incredible longevity. You’d be hard-pressed to find a more terroir-expressive wine anywhere in the Southern Rhone. Furthermore, Cayron is among the most age-worthy of Gigondas, delicious upon release, but improving for well over a decade and holding strong for a long time thereafter. This 16-hectare domaine is a classic and truly top-flight estate.
The Farauds have been making just one wine, an extremely concentrated, intense Gigondas for over 150 years - and it is consistently an excellent value. Michel Faraud recently turned over the operation of his winery to his three daughters – Delphine, Sandrine and Rosaline. They work very hard in the vineyard, restricting yields and always hand harvesting the grapes at their maximum ripeness. The wine then rests in old wood for a year before it is bottled. The Farauds don’t fine or filter their Gigondas and the massive amounts of ripe black fruit flavors found in their wine are always tempered by a profoundly complex expression of the terroir. It is important to note that each vintage is truly unique. The wine is being made the way the Farauds want it and is not manipulated to appeal to the prejudices of wine writers or large importers. They don’t have to – each vintage is practically spoken for before the bottling begins.
The Wine
The Farauds have kindly agreed to ship their treasures in six-bottle cases. We plan to take your orders to the LCBO on Friday, May 8th.
2006 Domaine de Cayron Gigondas – (14.0% Alc. by Vol.) $36.00/btl. - $216 per 6 btl. Case
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- 70% Grenache; 15% Cinsault; 14% Syrah; 1% Mourvèdre
- 26 hl/ha!!
- 40+ years average age of vines
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This is a big, serious and classic Gigondas from a very good vintage that could use another year in the bottle before consuming (it will age beautifully for many years thereafter). Note the yield … a most stingy 26 hectolitres per hectare. It is a beautiful garnet colour with an exotically perfumed nose of potent raspberry, apricot, fig and garrigue with rose accents. In the mouth it is lush and creamy with a sweet red fruit liqueur flavour, medium weight and strikingly silky tannins. It is elegant with a nice long finish that picks up a suave minerality. It will go wonderfully with red meats (magret de canard would be divine), game and a wide variety of cheese. Josh Reynolds of the International Wine Cellar Review rates it 92-95/100; La Revue des Vins de France between 17.5 and 20/20 and le Guide Vert 2009 18.5/20.
Order your classic Gigondas now.
Note: the price includes a $1.00 per bottle handling fee.
1er Cru Rosé Brut - Champagne Forget-Brimont still available at VINTAGES, only $53.95
A good supply of this delicious pink Champagne remains available at many VINTAGES outlets across the Province. If your favourite store doesn’t have it, ask them to bring it in for you (which they must do if requested). You can also check (www.lcbo.com/aboutlcbo/index.shtml) availability by inserting the product number 95059 at the upper right of the LCBO webpage, then clicking on the product name in the middle of the page then on “Find Stores”.
O!France – a couple of great rooms remain for this September
There are still two rooms (the Master and a corner ensuite) available for the week of September 5 to 12 and a corner ensuite for the week of September 19 to 26 in the Bastide in Provence. Read all about the delightful details; be sure to click on ‘Fall 2009 Brochure at the bottom of the homepage.
Please pass this note on to anyone else you think might be interested in some superb Gigondas from a classic southern Rhône winery.
Many thanks and cheers,
Jim & Hélène
jaswalker@arthursellers.com
hbuisson@ofrance.ca
www.arthursellers.com
