“Brilliant ruby. Smoky cherry, boysenberry and potpourri scents show very good clarity and pick up a spicy quality with aeration. Intense red and blue fruit flavors are complicated by a floral pastille nuance. Finishes on a gently tannic note, delivering very good energy and spicy thrust. All of the Valbelle fruit was included in this bottling in 2014.”

“Elegant, with fine potential on the nose. Tender, winsome red fruits in a neat roll of grassy, sweet herbs: serene, savory and balanced.”

“Sports solid, charcoal-edged grip, with roasted alder and savory notes forming a robust frame around the chewy currant, plum and bitter cherry paste flavors.”

“Sports solid, charcoal-edged grip, from the get-go, with roasted alder and savory notes forming a robust frame around the chewy-edged currant, plum and bitter cherry paste flavors. The long, dark, smoldering finish lets the woodsy and herb accents stride though. Shows the cool-weather profile of the vintage.”

“Checking in as a blend of 65% Grenache, 20% Mourvedre and 15% Syrah, the 2014 Gigondas is a rock solid effort in a difficult vintage. Offering the classic graphite, camphor, mineral and darker fruit that's the hallmark of this estate, it's medium to full-bodied, nicely concentrated and has a tight, backwards, age-worthy feel. Give bottles 3-4 years of cellaring and drink through 2029.”

“Starting off the 2014s, the 2014 Gigondas Classique is a blend of 70% Grenache, 15% Mourvèdre and the rest Syrah and a tiny splash of Cinsault. It’s a medium-bodied, balanced and impressive effort that offers terrific notes of ripe red and black fruits, olive tapenade and pepper. It’s well worth buying and will keep through 2024.”

“Dark ruby. Spice-accented strawberry, cherry liqueur and garrigue aromas show good clarity and a smoky mineral overtone. Taut and focused in the mouth, offering gently sweet red fruit, licorice and floral pastille flavors that deepen and open up slowly with air. The persistent finish is framed by subtle tannins and echoes the floral and mineral notes. All of the fruit that would normally make up the Valbelle bottling wound up in this wine.”