2020 E. Guigal Gigondas 750 ml

Los Angeles, 2007

The scene: Tom Colicchio’s sleek Craft restaurant in Century City (may that location RIP). Six of us were sharing a table so crowded with bottles that there was barely room for chef Matt Accarrino’s dry-aged NY strip, heritage rack of pork, and braised morels. 

Among the wines were a late-1990s Joseph Phelps Insignia, a 2002 Kosta Browne Pinot, a young Alter Ego of Palmer… and a Guigal Gigondas that a friend had cellared five years earlier and never touched. 

The Guigal was the humblest bottle there—but sipped along with the feast, it was the unquestioned star of the night. Smoky, spicy, and seamless, the cellared Gigondas was perfectly integrated, and it stole the show from some pretty impressive competition. 

Now, four years past an OUTSTANDING Southern Rhône harvest, Guigal’s 2020 Gigondas is giving off the very same charm. Grown on 40-year-old vines planted in the region’s trademark red clay and gravel, aged for two full years in 50% new French oak foudres crafted in-house, Grenache-dominant blend is the perfect balance of ripe fruit, wild herbaceousness, and age-worthy structure.

What Châteauneuf was 30 years ago, Gigondas is now. This is one of our favorite bottles, and it epitomizes why the Southern Rhône should still be considered a hotspot for cellarworthy values. Don’t miss it.

We're unabashed fans of just about everything Guigal does, and we can't wait to see how this beauty develops over three, five, ten years and more. Right now, it’s a harmonious blend of power and finesse—a superb bottle that will showcase a fantastic Southern Rhône vintage for years to come.