Gigondas
I love Gigondas. Just the word Gigondas sounds so enchanting and musical.
It is perhaps not surprising that the word Gigondas is of Roman origin. Jocunditas means great pleasure and enjoyment in Latin.
Indeed, the town was founded as a recreational site for the soldiers from the Roman Empire Second Legion. The finding of a Bacchus-head indicates that wine was already grown at this time.
For the intrepid wine walker like me, who relies on public transport, Gigondas is not readily accessible. I took a taxi (rather expensive!) from Orange train station, after spending close to four hours on the train from Paris.
But as we approached the town, I knew that I was not mistaken. It is a beautiful old town, nestled into a hill, surrounded by beautiful vineyards. It is in fact a small village with only 550 inhabitants.
The region reportedly turned to single crop farming – wine-growing – following the great frosts of 1929 and 1956 which destroyed the ancient olive trees. The Gigondas “appellation d’origine” was requested as early as 1924, but was not granted until 1971.
Vineyards here cover an area of 12 km² and more than five million bottles are put on the market each year. These wines are powerful and generous, robust and well-balanced.
Like many such towns in France, it is today dominated by wine tourism, and thus has lost some of its authenticity. But this is the price of beauty, it becomes a commodity.
After my heroic journey, I decided to spoil myself. Unfortunately, the restaurant L’Oustalet, which is proud of its “one-star” ranking from Michelin, was booked out. According to Michelin, they off “une cuisine d’une grande finesse”. A good reason for a return visit.
So I found a lovely little restaurant up a side street. Somewhat rustic, but delicious, nevertheless. I broke my diet with a glass of red and then white (more details later).
My visit to Gigondas was basically a reconnaissance mission. My taxi would return in a couple of hours.
So I went for a quick walk around the vineyard areas. Very beautiful, and certainly worthy of a much longer return visit.
I finished my visit with a tasting of some Gigondas wines of Domain Brusset. The tasting boutique was managed by the owner’s charming daughter, Jeanne, who is studying law at university.
Thanks to Jeanne’s excellent guidance, I tasted three wonderful reds, and one white.
The reds were:
Le Grand Montmirail Gigondas 2022 — 65% Grenache, 15% Syrah, 15% Mourvèdre, 5% Cinsault.
Les Hauts de Montmirail Gigondas 2022 — 55% Grenache, 20% Syrah, 25% Mourvèdre.
Les Secrets de Montmirail 2022 — 50% Grenache, 50% Syrah
The white was:
L’esprit de Papet 2023 — 60% Roussanne, 40% Viognier.
I was particularly taken by Les Hauts de Montmirail and Les Secrets de Montmirail, and bought a bottle of each. They were rich and powerful, while also being complex and having great finesse.
Traveling from the Northern Rhone Valley to the South, you will notice Syrah is no longer the dominant grape variety, as it passes that role to the king of southern Rhône Valley grapes, Grenache Noir. Syrah is however used to a lesser extent, as it boosts the garnet hue and brings a certain aromatic intensity.
From 2023, there has also been a white Gigondas. The committee of the Institut National de l’Origine et de la Qualité (INAO) accepted the request to extend the AOC Gigondas to white wines. This is regarded as a great victory for the winegrowers of the appellation, who have seen their long work rewarded.