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The 2016 Gigondas Les Souteyrades checks in as 80% Grenache and 20% Mourvèdre that was brought up all in foudre. It’s another powerful, concentrated, awesome wine that has slightly more exotic notes of black raspberries, crushed flowers, spice, and sappy garrigue. I almost always find a citrus note in this cuvée, which is full-bodied, opulent and mouthfilling on the palate, yet always stays graceful and lively.Jeb Dunnuck | 97 JDEven among a lineup of fantastic peers in a fantastic vintage, this bottling of Les Souteyrades is a stunner. It’s intensely rich, bursting with mulberry and cherry flavors, yet not brawny or dense. Finessed and fine in texture, it’s marked by soft, chalky tannins and bright, sunny acidity. The finish is long, offering lingering hints of crushed earth and garrigue. A treat to savor now– 2030.Wine Enthusiast | 96 WEA blend of 80% Grenache and 20% Mourvèdre grown on north-facing gray clays, the 2016 Gigondas les Souteyrades has closed down since bottling and now looks was if it will need short-term cellaring to bounce back. It’s full-bodied, rich and tannic, with peppery notes accenting the intense raspberry and stone fruit flavors that come to the fore on the finish, always a good sign for the future. Tasted twice, with consistent notes.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 95 RPLimpid violet color. A suave, expansive bouquet evokes ripe cherry, raspberry, floral and exotic spice qualities and picks up subtle garrigue and earth nuances as the wine opens up. Alluringly sweet and seamless in texture, offering palate-staining red fruit liqueur, star anise and candied violet flavors that put on weight through the mid-palate. Discreet, polished tannins lend shape to an impressively long, smooth finish that emphatically echoes the floral and spice notes.Vinous Media | 94 VM

The 2017 Gigondas Le Lieu Dit is, as always, the most finesse oriented and elegant in the lineup. Coming from a sandy, cooler parcel just outside the domaine and all Grenache (70% destemmed) brought up in old demi-muids, it offers a more ruby color as well as a massive perfume of wild strawberries, kirsch liqueur, dried soil, and flowery incense. Full-bodied, incredibly pure, and perfectly balanced, it’s another straight-up thrilling wine from Brechet that will benefit from 2-3 years of bottle age and keep for 10-15 years or more.Jeb Dunnuck | 97 JDSaturated crimson. Intense aromas of red berry liqueur, exotic spices and incense pick up a smoky mineral nuance as the wine stretches out. Sappy and energetic in the mouth, offering impressively concentrated raspberry, cherry and spicecake flavors and a strong suggestion of candied lavender. Finishes seamless, alluringly sweet and extremely long, with resonating red fruit and floral notes and supple tannins that add shape and discreet grip.Vinous Media | 94-95 VMThis mixes red and black currant fruit with notes of sage, alder and tobacco, ending with a tug of chalky minerality. Features perfume, flesh and a little more grip than most in the vintage. Best from 2020 through 2032. 50 cases imported.Wine Spectator | 94 WSThe 2017 Gigondas le Lieu Dit incorporates 30% whole clusters yet shows no green, stemmy characters at this stage of its evolution. It’s loaded with purple raspberries, framed by incredibly silky tannins, lush and ripe without any warmth evident on the long finish. Tasted twice, showing more tannic grip and woody notes on one occasion.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 93 RP

Curls of dark chocolate, shaved cinnamon and truffle lend a spicy, smoky intensity to fresh, cutting red plum and raspberry flavors here. Full bodied and high impact in flavor, it’s a juicy, lusciously concentrated blend of organically farmed Grenache, Mourvédre and Syrah that’s ready to drink now but likely to improve further through 2030 at least.Wine Enthusiast | 94 WEThe 2019 Gigondas is straight-up terrific, offering ripe red and black fruits as well as notes of ground pepper, loamy earth, and new leather. Based off 65% Grenache, 20% Mourvèdre, and the rest Syrah, the Mourvèdre really shines, and this medium to full-bodied Gigondas has ripe tannins, a polished, elegant texture, and a great finish. This cuvée is vinified all in concrete and aged 18 months in foudre, and I see no reason it won’t evolve for 15+ years if stored properly.Jeb Dunnuck | 93 JDVivid ruby. Pungent red fruit, floral and garrigue scents complement a spicy suggestion of white pepper. Juicy and focused on the palate, it offers subtly sweet cherry, blackberry and spicecake flavors that show very good depth and energy. It finishes smooth, smoky and gently tannic, displaying impressive tenacity and a late jolt of lavender.Vinous Media | 92 VMVibrant, with a fresh core of cherry and cassis notes backed by anise, applewood and garrigue hints through the finish. Nice underlying juiciness throughout. Best from 2022 through 2029. 1,500 cases made, 160 cases imported.Wine Spectator | 92 WS

The 2020 Gigondas Les Souteyrades is also utterly brilliant. Giving up lots of kirsch liqueur, orange blossom, ground pepper, and herbes de Provence-like aromatics, it hits the palate with full-bodied richness and a layered, seamless, elegant mouthfeel that has awesome tannins as well as purity of fruit. It’s another sensational Gigondas to enjoy over the coming two decades.Jeb Dunnuck | 97 JDDeep magenta. Suggestions of garrigue and baking spices complement vibrant boysenberry, cherry and floral scents. Juicy, palate-coating red and blue fruits and candied lavender flavors show fine definition and smoothly blend depth and energy. Echoes the spice and floral notes on an impressively long, chewy finish framed by slowly building tannins.Vinous Media | 95 VM

At the moment, the 2020 Gigondas Hominis Fides looks to be the standout of the three single vineyards, although all three are beautiful wines in the making. It certainly offers the most power and concentration, with lots of ground pepper, Provençal garrigue, violets, and loamy soils notes, as well as a darker cassis and berry-driven core of fruit. It builds beautifully on the palate, with ample structure, incredible balance, and a great, great finish.Jeb Dunnuck | 97-100 JDRipe, figgy blackberry fruit, with a touch of menthol. Full-bodied, rich and generous palate, quite potent and powerful. Dense, thick tannic base and the alcohol is high. Grenache planted sometime around 1902 on Miocene calcareous sand, in a single vineyard. No destemming, 12 months maturation in French oak barriques: 30% new, 30% one-year-old, 30% two-year-old. Unfiltered. Drinking Window: 2028 - 2038Decanter | 94 DEC