2016 Gigondas Vieilles Vignes

Great depth and freshness here. Spicy oak adds modern appeal to rich, dark fruit and plush, sweeping tannins. Long and polished. Terrific wine. Drink or hold.

Lurid ruby. Highly expressive aromas of raspberry, cherry liqueur and candied flowers are complemented by a smoky mineral topnote. Appealingly sweet and silky on the palate, offering intense red fruit preserve flavors that deepen and spread out steadily with air. Shows candied licorice and allspice flourishes on an impressively long, sappy finish framed by smooth, slow-building tannins.

The 2016 Gigondas Vieilles Vignes is another ripe, concentrated, modern styled effort that has loads to love. Black raspberries, garrigue and violets notes all emerge from this solid effort that has full-bodied power, moderate acidity, ripe tannin and a great finish. I tasted six whites from Tardieu-Laurent, all of which were noteworthy, and this estate’s relatively modern, yet clean, pure style always produced a terrific white I’d be happy to drink.