M.Chapoutier Gigondas 'Les Jocasses' 2020

A powerful nose, alternating between strawberry jam and spicy/peppery notes. Similarly the palate is floral then spicy, the wine has superb tannic structure and lovely long-lingering flavours.

2020 will undoubtedly stand out as an atypical year. The winter was mild marked, by a water shortage over the period, although reserves from 2019 helped to alleviate this. Budbreak was 10 days earlier than in previous vintages. Although snow fell after budbreak and frost was a real risk, it only affected a few vines in Beaumont Moneux. June brought plentiful heat and sunshine in the Northern Rhône and some welcome rain in the Southern Rhône. Grenache in the Southern Rhône looked beautiful and Syrah in the north perfectly balanced. Harvest was earlier than usual starting in early September and proceeded calmly and without any weather pressures. Marked by exceptional earliness and scorching mid-summer heat, the 2020 vintage offers us wines full of elegance and pedigree. They have all the markers of great ageing potential thanks to preserved acidity and remarkable phenolic maturity. The elegance of the red wines and the expression of minerality supported by a beautiful acidity on the whites are the hallmarks of this particular vintage that is full of surprises.

The grapes are destemmed and vinified in concrete tanks. Daily pumping over is carried out during the alcoholic fermentation to build the body of the wine. Maturing takes place in concrete tanks over 8 months, allowing the purity of fruit and depth of terroir to steal the show.