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2007 VINTAGE: THE RHONE

Of the three main red wine regions in France, Bordeaux, Burgundy and the Rhone, it is the latter that seems to have emerged with the most credit in the 2007 vintage. There is always a danger of exaggerated claims being made, but this is undeniably a vintage that is more than merely satisfactory, deserving an alpha mark rather than a beta, one might say.

Resisting the temptation to bombard you with a baffling choice we have decided instead to put the spotlight on one particular wine that we are not alone in thinking merits special attention.




2007 GIGONDAS Domaine Raspail-Ay


Decanter Rating: ***** 5 Stars

“Bouquet forming gradually, some grilled notes, black fruit, leather tang, potential here. Good black fruit present, nice juiciness backed by lively tannins. Fruit persists on aftertaste.”
John Livingstone Learmoth Drink from 2010. (18.88 points)



Gigondas fully deserves its special status among the wine villages of the southern Rhone and has been a personal favourite of mine since the purchase of a brilliant 1969 from Paul Jaboulet Ainé and a very good 1970 from the excellent Cave Cooperative, both of which lasted well for over 15 years. Today there is considerable variety in winemaking style within the appellation, but the approach that we favour remains the most traditional one, perfectly exemplified every year by Domaine Raspail-Ay with around 8000 cases of a single wine. Rather than produce an alcoholic fruit bomb that has flirted with small new oak barrels, Dominique Ay prefers to stick to a slow traditional ‘elevage’ where the tannins are softened in large old wooden ‘foudres’ over two winters. The 40 hectare vineyard produces a blend of 80% Grenache, 15% Syrah and 5% Mourvedre, resulting in a wine that is rich, ripe and spicy, but never jammy or unbalanced, showing a generous mouthful of fruit with notes of black pepper. The wine is consistently good every year, but the 2007 seems to have been singled out for special praise by the tasting panel from Decanter Magazine with a 5* rating and a very high score of 18.88/20 plus the extra accolade of “Best Value” wine in their tasting of some 52 wines in the appellation.

LIST PRICE £15.95 per bottle inc.VAT

SPECIAL PRE-SHIPMENT OFFER PRICE £14.35*
(* For orders received before 22nd February 2010 of not less than 12 bottles.)

Our usual terms and conditions apply ...for details go to TERMS on this website

Shipment due during the first week in March. Available from mid March.

As you will no doubt be aware, the rate of VAT has been raised to 17.5% with effect from January 1st 2010.

We will however continue to honour the prices quoted in our printed catalogue and here on our website, provided that the order is for a minimum of 12 bottles, which may be mixed.

For smaller orders there will be a surcharge of 2.5% to reflect the VAT increase

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