Aromas of blackberries, dark cherries, chocolate, leather and bark. Medium- to- full-bodied with fine, firm tannins and fresh acidity. It has a smoky character on the palate giving it so much vivacity. Succulent and precise with a focused finish and excellent length. Pure and restrained. 70% grenache and 30% syrah. Drink or hold.

There's a lifted, slightly herbal component to the nose of the 2018 Gigondas. Set against the red raspberry and redcurrant fruit, it accentuates the sense of freshness. The wine is medium to full-bodied, with a taut, tension-filled palate and silky, slightly astringent tannins on the finish. Give it another year or two in the cellar, then drink it over the next several years after that.

The very good 2007 Gigondas offers black cherry fruit notes intermixed with hints of white chocolate, loamy soil, pepper, and spice. Medium-bodied and surprisingly elegant, it is best consumed during its first 7-8 years of life. Few vignerons are more interesting to visit than Domaine La Soumade’s Andre Romero, whose wines are longtime reference points for the wines of Rasteau, a village with some incredible terroirs as well as a high percentage of old vine Grenache. Romero makes a bevy of Vin de Pays offerings, but his finest cuvees are his Cotes du Rhone and Rasteau wines. He also produces a small amount of Gigondas. Readers who don’t think Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon can do well in the Mistral winds and dry heat of the southern Rhone should check out Soumade’s offerings. St.-Emilion’s guru, Stephane Derenoncourt is the consulting winemaker, which may help explain why these wines are so good.Importer: Eric Solomon, European Cellars, Charlotte, NC; tel. (704) 358-1565

Soft, round, and evolved, the 2006 Gigondas is an elegant effort compared to Romero’s normally powerful, masculine style of winemaking. Gigondas’ cooler micro-climate appears to have provided a completely different style of wine than his Rasteaus. Few vignerons are more interesting to visit than Domaine La Soumade’s Andre Romero, whose wines are longtime reference points for the wines of Rasteau, a village with some incredible terroirs as well as a high percentage of old vine Grenache. Romero makes a bevy of Vin de Pays offerings, but his finest cuvees are his Cotes du Rhone and Rasteau wines. He also produces a small amount of Gigondas. Readers who don’t think Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon can do well in the Mistral winds and dry heat of the southern Rhone should check out Soumade’s offerings. St.-Emilion’s guru, Stephane Derenoncourt is the consulting winemaker, which may help explain why these wines are so good.Importer: Eric Solomon, European Cellars, Charlotte, NC; tel. (704) 358-1565

The dark ruby/purple-tinged 2005 Gigondas offers up sweet aromas of flowers, crushed rocks, black raspberries, cherries, and earth. Medium-bodied, elegant, and rich, it should drink well for a decade. Although the irrepressible Andre Romero hardly needed help from Bordeaux, he has brought in Stephane Derenoncourt, the well-known wine guru of St.-Emilion and Pomerol as a consultant. Romero has purchased some parcels in both Gigondas and Chateauneuf du Pape, but his glories remain his offerings from the ancient, sun-drenched/roasted, old Grenache vines of Rasteau. Romero is one of the region’s more modern winemakers, aging his top cuvees in small oak barrels. However, these wines easily absorb their wood component given their tremendous concentration and power.Importer: Eric Solomon, European Cellars, Charlotte, NC; tel. (704) 358-1565