Santa Duc Gigondas Prestige des Hates Garriques - 2007 (750ml)

The estate's flagship cuvee is the Gigondas Les Hautes Garrigues Cuvee Prestige (a blend of 80% Grenache and 20% Mourvedre, some of which is aged in small oak barrels). Fashioned from the same blend as the 2004, the 2003 Gigondas Les Hautes Garrigues Cuvee Prestige tips the scales at 15.8% alcohol, and possesses extraordinary opulence and richness. While there is some hard tannin still to be resolved in the finish, there is no doubting there is enough concentration and richness to support the wine's tannic structure. It is a deep, chewy Gigondas with chocolaty blackberry and cassis notes intermixed with licorice, truffle, new saddle leather, and graphite characteristics. Give it 2-3 years of cellaring, and drink it over the following 12-15 years.
Importer: Robert Kacher Selections, Washington, DC; tel. (202) 832-9083
Robert Parker - 92 points