Cory Gowan, JJ Buckley, April 2013

Dark, opaque ruby with translucent purple rim. The richly vibrant bouquet is full of garrigue, white pepper, ripe raspberry liqueur, licorice and a hint of sea air. Tardieu-Laurent's wines always have a luscious, velvety quality about them and this is no exception. Soft and pure on the palate, with gobs of rich red fruit and a kiss of vanilla, 2010 has blessed this Gigondas with admirable purity and a silky mouthfeel. Already a beauty out of the gate, this will drink well through 2018.

94 points,

Wine Spectator, October 2012

This has stunning black tea, warm ganache and roasted alder aromas giving way to a very lush yet defined core of braised fig, blackberry cobbler and pastis-soaked plum fruit. The long, dark finish is muscular, but polished and caressing. Best from 2014 through 2022. 450 cases made. – JM

About Winery

Tardieu is perhaps the ultimate in minimal intervention, because unlike Dominque in Burgundy he plays no role in the fermentations of the wines that he sells, only taking control of the process once the wines are in barrel. He purchases wine on the basis of quality of the vines, and indeed the vines are the starting point for him.

First, inspecting the vineyards of the Rhône Valley, he identifies plots containing old vines (here meaning more than fifty years of age), a strong feature of the Tardieu-Laurent portfolio, and having succeeded in this he will then approach the relevant vigneron to open negotiations. If successful, and the grower agrees to enter into a contract, Tardieu will arrange for his new barrels to be delivered to the vigneron's property.

The Syrah wines - Hermitage, Côte-Rôtie and so on - will go into new Tronçais oak, whereas wines based on Grenache will go into one-year old barrels. Once the wine has finished fermentation and is run off into the barrels, they are ready for transfer to the Tardieu-Laurent cellars, usually sometime during the spring following the harvest.

In this fashion the Tardieu-Laurent portfolio covers all the major appellations of the Rhône, north and south, and subsequently Tardieu has branched out to take in some areas of Provence and Languedoc as well. Those wines sourced from appropriately old vines are bottled as Vieilles Vignes, but from across all the Rhône Valley there are many high quality wines sourced which may be bottled as Cuvée Tardieu-Laurent or Les Grandes Bastides.

In the cellars the wines are racked, but are hand-bottled without fining or filtration. The quantities in question can be very small, sometimes just a handful of casks.

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