2017 Domaine du Grapillon D'Or 1806 Gigondas Southern Rhone Valley France 750 ml

Gigondas is closing the gap on Châteauneuf-du-Pape, giving lovers of dense, rich, sun-soaked, and garrigue-tinged French blockbusters another region to fall head over heels for. The bad news—well, it’s that Gigondas is closing the gap on its big brother in the price department as well. It’s not uncommon to see the sticker price on top Gigondas creeping above $50, a line that only region-ruling Châteauneuf-du-Pape used to cross.

That’s why we’re constantly on the lookout for wines like the 2017 Domaine du Grapillon d’Or 1806 Gigondas. It packs the power, stuffing, and herbal intrigue of a $60+ Châteauneuf du Pape. Yet on Wine Access, It comes with a price that takes us back a decade or more, to when this appellation just beneath the Dentelles de Montmirail mountains could still be considered a bit of an insider secret—and taking one home at half the price of a Châteauneuf felt better than finding a fifty in your laundry.

We miss those days, so we’re nuts about the 2017 Grapillon d’Or, which boasts a purple-tinged ruby-red tint. It's got a heady, sweet perfume of black and blue fruit mixed with violets. Saturated with blueberries, black raspberries, and cherry liqueur, it’s a silky and rich mouthful of Rhône goodness, stacked with layers of garrigue spice, licorice, new leather, and wild game. 

Jeb Dunnuck praised the wine for its “great elegance, sweet tannins, and a great finish,” and summed it up exactly the way we were about to: For lovers of rich Old World reds, the Grapillon d’Or is a “no brainer,” full stop.

Gigondas may be on the rise, but it’s no newcomer—and neither is the Chauvet family, one of Wine Spectator’s “Producers to Know in Gigondas,” who have been in the region since 1630. The family started making wine in 1703, and purchased the property that produced today’s wine in 1806, a date that’s memorialized on the label. In 1893, the family received their first gold medal at the Concours General Agricole in Paris, which kicked off a century-plus of accolades. More recently, Jeb Dunnuck lauded one bottling as “rock star Gigondas,” then said they were on a “qualitative roll.” The 2017, he said simply, “appears to be one of the finest examples from this estate to date.” 

The Chauvets’ land consists of 39 acres of vineyards, consisting largely of clay-limestone soils that run along the Les Garrigues plateau below the town of Gigondas. The estate is planted solely to Grenache and Syrah, which is rare for the appellation, and yields a beautiful blend: red-fruited purity from the Grenache, and the purple, garrigue-laden savoriness of Rhône Syrah.

The Chauvets vinify traditionally in cement vats and age the wine in foudres, but with one distinctly modern touch: They were among the first to fully destem the grapes for their Gigondas, which eases the tannins a bit, contributes to the plushness, and puts the spotlight on the rich red fruit. This is a bottle that represents Gigondas’ modern quality spike, at a price that reminds us of the good old days. What’s not to love about that?