95+ pts Parker
The 2010 Vintage For Southern Rhone Is Classic.
Great Gigondas Producer.
Same Quality as Chateauneuf du Pape
At a Lower Price.
The world of wine yields great treasure from different parts of the world in a given year. This year there is huge demand for the spectacular Southern Rhone's from 2010. The great wines from the Southern Rhone are the Chateauneuf du Papes and people in the know are clamoring/lining up for the best Chateauneufs from this incredible vintage. Parker himself tastes the Southern Rhone and he has declared 2010 a GREAT VINTAGE with some producers commenting that their 2010's will eclipse their 2007's. Parker comments that, I can't remember a vintage so concentrated, powerful and rich...Weather conditions were near perfect. The 2010's will have significant aging potential, they have excellent tannic structures. The tannins however are sweet, supple with exceptional elegance and finesse. The Southern Rhone is offering an embarrassment of riches and more and more wine lovers are beating down the door to get these outstanding wines. There is one massive problem with this great vintage. The crop was very small, 30 to 40% of all Grenache grapes were lost, the dominant grape varietal in the Southern Rhone. This was due to a viticulture problem, the French call coulure and millerandage which results in uneven berry size and different levels of grape maturity. If in a normal year let say 1000 cases of a wine are made, in 2010 only 500 to 700 cases were made. Availability of these great wines is going to be a definite problem.Domaine Brusset are top four producer in Gigondas, an Appelation not as famous as Chateauneuf du Pape but the best are every bit as good but at a much lower price. This important domaine has vineyards spread throughout the southern Rhone, primarily in Gigondas and its neighboring villages. Domaine Brusset was among the first estates to introduce small barrels (barriques) for aging their top cuvee, the old vine Les Hauts de Montmirail. After an extravagant use of wood in the early days, they have gotten the marriage between wood and fruit to a nearly ideal point. We have three of their finest wines in the 2010 vintage that have got massive scores at low prices. This is a Pre-Sell.
Tasting Notes:Absolutely spectacular, and one of the candidates for wine of the vintage in Gigondas, the 2010 Gigondas Les Hauts de Montmirail boasts beautifully integrated oak along with luxurious richness, and a dense, creme de cassis, kirsch and blackberry-scented nose with subtle smoke and burning embers in the background. Deep and full-bodied with good acidity and moderately high tannins, this opaque purple-colored 2010 requires 3-4 years of cellaring and should keep for 12-15+ years.

PRE-SELL DELIVERY SPRING