Dry and cool autumn and winter, as well as a rainy April allowed the vineyards to gain on its usual growth.

The summer was relatively dry and warm (with cool nights in August enabling steady colours) and the weather was very mild during the harvest. The year was early with good ripeness without the grapes having to suffer from drought.

2007 Gigondas are perfectly well balanced : the wines are deep-coloured and complex with explodinge fl avours,
roundness and soft tannins.

The 2005 winter was one of the coldest ones since 15 years, with a lack of rains which was not caught up during the Spring. It was very hot in July and quite cool in August. It was raining in July and August, but overall on the 13th and 24th of September.
As result of this climate, growers and wine-makers should take care of the diversity of terroirs to dominate the different maturities of Grenache. They picked up also the Syrah grapes with a very good quality.

2006 Gigondas are consistent and fi ne. Cold nights in August give steady colours. Well balanced and delicate, the wines have a quite good acidity. Considering the market which expects wines easy to drink earlier and earlier, the fruit and aromas of this vintage will satisfy impatient wine lovers.

The cold temperatures during February and March delayed the budding-out. Then, the dryness was strong and lasted until the mid of August. Hopefully, on the 17th of August, the storm permitted the berries to start maturing with good conditions. The harvest took place with a great dry and hot climate.

The wines are already attractive with silky and fi ne tannins, roundness and well-balance.

2005 was windier, sunnier and much drier than a normal vintage. During the summer, warm days and cold nights permitted very concentrated berries with a fi rm skin. There was not heat wave and the producers could have kept a maximum of aromas and freshness. Moreover, 2005 was the lowest average yield for the appellation for 10 years (about 29,5 hl/ha).

2005 is an exceptional vintage : very steady colours, well-balance, headiness and finess.

With a rainy autumn/winter and a hot and dry spring/summer, 2003 was considered as an early vintage. Then, the climate was good in September and each producer waited for the optimal maturity of each parcel before harvesting.

The wines get good colours with a large aromatic palate.

Wine growers of Gigondas waited for the Mistral winds, on the 23th of September, to start the harvest. Indeed, the violent and dry Mistral blew during more than 3 weeks. After a very strong selective picking and meticulous vinifi cation, the quality of the wines is good.

In 2001, the goods rains in May made reserves of water. The beginning of July was damp and stormy. Then, the weather was good without strong heat during the summer. So, wine growers picked up grapes with a very good quality.

As a result, wines are well-balanced, classics and very representative of our appellation.

From the 1st of January to 25th of March, we could say that it did not rain : only 14 mm... Then, it rained regularly during the Spring, even in June. The summer was very nice with hotter temperature in August than in July. Harvests were done with good condition during a sunny and no windy September.

A very good vintage, complex wines which required cellar time.

Winter 2009-2010 was long and harsh and saw two periods of snow in January and March. The first buds were late to open compared with previous years. Plentiful rainfall in the spring provided the vines with the water they needed to develop.

As a direct consequence of these conditions, the vintage flourished later than usual; yield was small due to an abnormal number of flowers being shed (phenomenon known as coulure or shatter), despite a satisfactory initial flowering. However, thanks to the varying altitudes of Gigondas' parcels, later flowering vines were less affected by the phenomenon.

Summer was extremely dry, however, moderate temperatures and groundwater reserves accumulated during the spring allowed grapes to mature comfortably. Nights were unusually cool for a Provencal summer which enabled excellent synthesis of the high levels of polyphenols and anthocyanins which had accumulated in the grape skins. Levels of acidity fell more slowly than in previous years and there was only a moderate increase in sugar concentration.
Rainfall between mid-August and the beginning of September contributed greatly to reviving the vines' physiology.

September saw a series of hot spells followed by rainfall, then cooler temperatures created by the Mistral wind. These conditions allowed vines to benefit from the positive effects of hydration while preserving a perfect state of health.

Thus in certain cases wine-makers and oenologists had to wait a particularly long time for grapes to reach optimum maturity before they could harvest the splendid clusters of small grapes. Harvesting took place from-September to mid-October.

With an excellent ratio of skin to flesh, the colours and structural qualities of the wines were extracted during maceration, without any real difficulty. The alcoholic fermentation process went smoothly for the most part, achieving full exhaustion of the sugars.

Malolactic fermentation was affected by the early arrival of winter causing cooler temperatures in cellars and slowing down microbiological activity in our wines.

Gigondas 2010 Rosé wines are now showing a rich range of aromas - as is characteristic of cooler years - and are very well-balanced in the mouth.
The reds have a wonderful structure with silky tannins, deep-coloured robes and above all extremely well-balanced levels of acidity and alcohol.

Our 2010 wines offer the ideal balance of strength and elegance. The concentration and freshness of this vintage will enable it to be enjoyed with little waiting; however the wine also possesses the excellent ageing potential found in the finest vintages.