2006 Domaine les Pallières Gigondas

While not a Chateuneuf, this Gigondas really delivers, with lots of dark berries, exotic spices and while the tannis are present, they are by no means overwhelming, in fact they're quite velvety. Try with pork of lamb chops, or with any wintery dish.

When not ready for a full-blown Chateauneuf-du-Pape, I will often reach for a bottle of polished, reliable Gigondas, one of my very favorite Southern Rhone appellations. One venerable estate that has been turning out wonderful garrigue-scented Grenache-based reds for over 700 years (!) is Domaine Les Pallières, now under the capable aegis of new co-owners Kermit Lynch and Daniel Brunier of Vieux-Telegraphe. The 2006 vintage, although hardly as heralded as the highly-regarded 2007s, produced some seriously good wines— rapturous red fruit ballasted by exotic spice and silky tannins, a textured, generous Gigondas that will embellish a simple tourtière of ground beef, potatoes and onions.

The 2006 Les Pallieres Gigondas is a ready to dink Rhone that offers nice and soft flavors of bright dark and red fruits that are intermixed with delicious spice components. To top this off, this Gigondas is elegant and a pleasure to drink. Great with meats or fowl.

To quote Jacques "its really beautiful...I like it a lot!" Medium bodied, this '06 Gigondas is upfront with its ripe red fruit and spice without being over the top and jammy. What is truly memorable about this wine is the smooth silky texture that one typically does not find in Gigondas.

At the 23.99 club price, this has to be the best "drink-now" Gigondas value on the market. After 30 minutes decanting, it transforms into an ultra-smooth wine packed with the dark fruit and leathery/gamey flavors that we know and love in this region. After a glass of this, I asked myself: "Why not buy more of the excelent 05 and 06 vintages, which are selling off at a dramatic rate due to the early buzz of 2007?"