Even better than I remember it being last year, and potentially edging out the L'Argnée this vintage, the 2017 Gigondas Clos des Tourelles is just flat-out terrific juice. From yields around 15 hectoliters per hectare, it's 80% Grenache and 10% each Mourvèdre and Syrah, all aged in foudre. Soaring floral notes of rose petals, violets and garrigue appear on the nose, followed by ripe raspberry flavors that flow almost weightlessly across the silky, full-bodied palate. So fine, so elegant, so long, it nearly left me speechless. 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.

Even better than I remember it being last year, and potentially edging out the L'Argnée this vintage, the 2017 Gigondas Clos des Tourelles is just flat-out terrific juice. From yields around 15 hectoliters per hectare, it's 80% Grenache and 10% each Mourvèdre and Syrah, all aged in foudre. Soaring floral notes of rose petals, violets and garrigue appear on the nose, followed by ripe raspberry flavors that flow almost weightlessly across the silky, full-bodied palate. So fine, so elegant, so long, it nearly left me speechless.

I think a small step up over the Vieilles Vignes release in the vintage, the 2017 Gigondas Clos Des Tourelles offers more blue fruits as well as hints of wild strawberries, spice box, and violets. This full-bodied, rounded, super-sexy Gigondas has ripe tannins, terrific balance, and is just a sensational, thrilling wine that’s going to keep for two decades.

Opaque, bright-rimmed ruby. Intensely perfumed, mineral-accented cherry and dark berry scents are accompanied by suggestions of licorice, candied flowers and exotic spices. Fleshy and broad in the mouth, offering deeply concentrated cherry pastry and blackberry flavors that become more energetic as the wine stretches out. Shows superb energy and mineral lift on an impressively long, subtly tannic finish that leaves behind a suave floral note.

Cask sample. Much more lush and open than their L'Argnée. Generous, fleshy and satisfying. Really pretty red fruit with a floral border giving complexity. Finely woven tannins, gradual persistence. A standout. (RH)