2019 Gigondas La Roche Domaine des Bosquets

Peppery black fruits, licorice, smoked meats, and ample minerality all emerge from the 2019 Gigondas Roche, a rich, full-bodied, power-packed Gigondas. With moderate acidity, a stacked mid-palate, and beautiful purity of fruit, it’s another brilliant wine from this estate. It has lots of structure, so the cellar will be your friend on this one.

Dark, glistening red. Vibrant dark berry, violet, incense and exotic spice aromas are present on the nose, along with olive and pipe tobacco hints. Sweet and expansive in the mouth, highlighting palate-staining, mineral-laced blackberry, boysenberry, cherry-cola and fruitcake flavors with building spice and bitter chocolate nuances. Gently gripping tannins shape the mineral- and smoke-accented finish, which clings with outstanding tenacity.

Inky in hue, the 2019 Gigondas Roche (a new bottling, from yields of 10–12 hectoliters per hectare) is Syrah from the same vineyard parcel as Le Plateau. Violets and Campari accent blueberries on the nose, while the full-bodied palate is dense, concentrated and velvety. The long, richly tannic finish adds savory hints of black olives, licorice and espresso. Give this a few years to resolve some of the tannin and drink it over the following decade or so.

This is distinctive, offering a rush of violet, crushed plum, açai berry and white pepper notes that hold sway throughout, while subtle leather and chalk threads underscore the finish. There's a tarry backdrop throughout and a long, palate-staining, grippy finish. Syrah. Best from 2023 through 2035.

A new wine from the Domaine, that is produced using 100% Syrah from a specific, high-altitude parcel of vines is deep, dark, meaty, smoky, spicy, peppery, and intense. The rich finish packs a punch.