Gigondas, a Côtes-du-Rhône vintage

Located in the heart of the Carpentras, Orange and Vaison-La-Romaine triangle, the village of Gigondas was originally called Jucunditas, meaning happiness and joy in Latin.

It is a name that foreshadowed the culture of vineyards and wine and the development of authentic wine-producing traditions across two millennia. Although the vines quickly found their home in Gigondas, its wines really came to the forefront in 1971, the year that the ‘Gigondas Cru des Côtes du Rhône’ appellation was obtained.

Gigondas, the magic of limestone

The 1,230 hectares of Gigondas’ vineyard are located exclusively in the commune of Gigondas, in the Vaucluse department, to the south east of the Rhône Valley.

The chain of the Dentelles de Montmirail to the east, the Ouveze river to the west, the Trignon mountain stream to the north and the hills continuing from the Dentelles to the south mark out its natural boundaries.

Thanks to the huge size of the Dentelles de Montmirail, with its amazing limestone peaks reaching 732m, Gigondas has an endless variety of soils. What they all have in common is the presence of limestone. It is a part of Gigondas and is what makes it so delicate and unique. The combination of phenomena of the Mesozoic, Tertiary and Quaternary periods is geologically unusual and is rare in the Rhône Valley. The resulting soils make up the unique structures of the land which produces complex wines.

This unstable geology led to diverse exposure and the Dentelles provide an important example of a particularly interesting microclimate.

Located in the south, with almost 2,800 hours of sun each year, it has a hot and dry climate and experiences both the heat of summer and violent mistral winds. Gigondas’ wines are unusual examples of high-altitude Grenaches, along with the Shiraz and Mourvèdre. Gigondas unites elegance, subtlety and freshness.

The limestone of the Dentelles de Montmirail brings a distinctive mineral quality to these vintages that is so unique to the southern Rhône Valley.