2022 Domaine du Terme, Gigondas, Rhône Valley, France.
This purple/ruby 2022 Domaine du Terme Gigondas is ripe and silky with opulent pleasures on the full bodied palate showing dark boysenberry, plum, pomegranate and candied cherry fruits, along with delicate florals, sagey garrigue, peppery spices, anise, sticky lavender and a cooler toned mineral note. This is pure Rhône goodness in the glass, heady in alcohol, but seductive, easy to love and great with simple meaty dishes and or hard cheeses. The classic old school Gigondas, coming from sustainable mature vines that don’t ever see any pesticides or herbicides and is aged in enamel-coated (concrete) vats for three years before bottling. This vintage, 80% Grenache and 20% Syrah, was 90% de-stemmed grapes, with 10% while cluster, saw daily punch downs of the cap, a long fermentation in vats with careful temperature control, using only natural indigenous yeasts, and saw no filtration or fining before its bottling. Grown in the shadow of the Dentelles, the cooler elevation here in Gogondas gives the wines a unique character, and set on limestone and clay with diverse exposures helping add balance. The Domaine du Terme’s 45 year old vines add to the concentration and complexity of their Gigondas, which is incredibly rich, nicely structured and supple in tannin.
Domaine du Terme has roots that go back to 1900 and has vineyards in the Gigondas, Vacqueyras and Sablet areas of the Rhône Valley’ and located in the foothills of the Montmirail Mountains. The Domaine du Terme is managed by Anne-Marie Gaudin and her father Rolland, who, as they note, purchased their first vines in Sablet some forty years ago. Anne-Marie herself began making the wines in 1987 here after earning her oenology degree in Mâcon region of Burgundy. He father Rolland, who is also was the mayor of Gigondas for over a decade, still consults in the vinification and viticulture process at the family property. Anne-Marie says that one must be “flexible, pragmatic, and intuitive” to make quality wine here in Rhône, and have a good connection to the earth, especially with the changing climate and modern challenges facing vignerons here. The Gigondas bottling here is clean and leans into its deep Grenache ripe nature, coming in at close to 15% natural alcohol, but feels remarkably fresh and balanced, especially with food, never feeling pruny or flabby, in fact it was easy to enjoy an extra class with cheese after the meal without any feeling of too much. I really was grateful to open this bottle on a slightly chilly Fall evening and I can recommend this for Grenache fans and Rhône lovers, it is good value, and fun, for the pedigree in the bottle.
($32 Est.) 93 Points, grapelive