Domaine Gour de Chaule Gigondas 'Les Jardinieres (1871)' 2024

A synthesis of the estate’s three principal terroirs, the 2024 Les Jardinières is the standout wine of the cellar this year. Unfurling in the glass with a perfumed bouquet of iris, violet, elderflower, dark cherries and spring blossoms, it’s medium- to full-bodied, deep and concentrated, with a fleshy, sapid core of fruit framed by tensile, velvety tannins. Seamless and harmonious, it concludes with a long, ethereal finish of striking purity and finesse. Reminiscent in its aromatic complexity and texture of the wines of Emmanuel Reynaud, Les Jardinières nonetheless retains a more contemporary register of freshness and balance; it's less evolved in ripeness than Château Rayas, for example, yet no less characterful. Readers would be well advised to forget this superb bottle in the cellar for two or three years before pulling a cork. 96 points, Yohan Castaing, The Wine Advocate.