1995 Gigondas Cuvee Valbelle

In Gigondas, Patrick Lesec works with Chateau de Saint-Cosme to produce two wines, a cuvee classique, and an old-vine cuvee called Valbelle. There is no doubting the quality of the 1995 Gigondas Valbelle. This outstanding, exotic wine exhibits seductive, toasty, sweet oak intertwined with gobs of peppery black cherry and plum-like fruit. The wine envelops the taster with copious quantities of glycerin, extract, and sweet fruit. Round, seductive, and fat, this expansive, ostentatiously-styled Gigondas can be drunk now or cellared for 7-10 years. Patrick Lesec continues to build his portfolio of handcrafted wines, buying specific cuvees from producers, and having them (1) bottled with low levels of SO2, and (2) usually without any aroma, flavor, and texture-stripping fining and filtration. This wine is a well-made, textbook example. Patrick Lesec Selections (Paris fax # 011 33 1 42843822), various American importers.