There are a whopping two demi-muids of the stellar 2017 Gigondas L'Argnee Vieilles Vignes in the pipeline, so readers will have to be on their toes to grab a bottle or two. Made from the same pre-Phylloxera parcel of Grenache, it's incredibly intense this vintage, boasting enough purple raspberries, black cherries and Asian spices to send me almost into sensory overload. Yet for all the flavor, this full-bodied wine is velvety-silky in feel, with a long, elegant finish. JC

With construction underway at Château de Beaucastel (those reviews are under their own heading), this year I met Marc Perrin at one of the family's properties in Gigondas—the Domaine du Clos des Tourelles. The family acquired that estate in 2008 and has substantial non-vineyard holdings in the village as well, including the local wine bar, Le Nez, and Restaurant L'Oustalet, which now has a Michelin star.

Perrin says, "For me, 2018 is a top vintage. The tannins are long and deep." He compares 2017 to 2007 for the dry weather, hot days and cool nights. Interestingly, the family is moving away from stainless steel for its red wines, using more and more concrete instead.

A big step up over the La Gille releases, the 2017 Gigondas L’Argnée Vieilles Vignes offers sensational notes of camphor, kirsch, blackcurrants, violets, and bouquet garni. Medium to full-bodied, structured, and concentrated, it has plenty of tannins as well as sensational balance.

Opaque ruby. Highly expressive aromas of mineral-tinged red berries, incense and licorice candy, along with a suave floral nuance that builds as the wine opens up. Appealingly sweet and seamless on the palate, offering penetrating raspberry, cherry, spicecake and candied lavender flavors that are braced by a spine of juicy acidity. Finishes silky, sweet and impressively long, with gentle tannins and lingering floral pastille and exotic spice notes. Josh Raynolds