Mas De Collines Gigondas
Absolutely made for summer barbeques, the wine is perfectly balanced. It has enough masculinity to stand up to anything on the grill, while its supple mouthfeel, nuanced & subtle flavors, and feminine charm make it great on its own.
It has entered its prime drinking window now but will continue to develop for a
nother 8-10 years with proper cellaring.
When sampled by the overworked staff at the height of the Christmas season, it elicited hard-to-come-by oohs and aahs. At that time there were only 7 cases available to us and the wine went mainly into holiday gift orders (and staff messenger bags).
The response back from gift recipients was equally as positive eliciting the greatest number of thank yous from any gift order Ive ever put together in any store. The importer knows exactly what they have here, so at the peak of the holiday season we had to plead for every single case that we got.
Since then, Ive been haggling them for more wine for our loyal customers. Due to our tenacity and firm belief in the wine, we have received one FINAL shipment of 2001, direct from the estate. Sadly, this is the absolute last of the wine for this excellent vintage.
Mas de Who?
As you know, we often write about the people and terroir behind the wine, and its not very often that we run into much difficulty finding information. This time, the regular channels struck out.
Even Googling the estate brought back only a handful of results, most of which relate to the Bed & Breakfast on the property.
A call to the importer produced the following report:
There is very little press on Mas de Collines. This is actually intentional as the Taxis de Poet family [who have owned the winery for over four generations] prefers their privacy and does not seek the limelight. They sell most of their grapes to surrounding estates, using on the best quality fruit for the small amount of wine they make. Rumor has it that even Robert Parker was denied a visit to their estate.
Where in the World?
Gigondas, pop. 656, is a sleepy farming town and the wine region that surrounds the village. Located northeast of Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Gigondas (from the Latin Jocunditas or joy of rejoicing) is a commune of the département of Vaucluse.
While Gigondas is one of the original Côtes du Rhône Villages whose residents have been making underrated wine since the 12th Century, it has only recently been promoted to Appellation status in 1971,
The region produces both red and rosé wines from Grenache,Syrah, Cinsaut and Mourvèdre. Most of the production is red wine which must contain at least 80% Grenache and a minimum of 15% Syrah and Mourvèdre.
Before coming into their own much juice from Gigondas and Châteauneuf estates was sold by the tankerload to Burgundian négociants who used it to fortify and enrich many of their own wines.
Great vintages include 1995, 1989, 1998, and 2001 while the years 1992 and 2002 are to be avoided due to Noahs-Ark-like flood conditions at harvest time.
Recently somewhat of an export rivalry has developed between Gigondas andChâteauneuf producers who see the high quality, lower priced wines as a threat to their southern Rhone monopoly.
In the Rhone, wines from Gigondas are often preferred by locals who sometimes consider Châteauneuf a wine for the English, other Europeans, and Americans