2015 Domaine Les Pallieres Gigondas Les Racines 750 ml

Parker: Pallières is to Gigondas as Rayas is to CdP

As Gigondas inches its way up the Southern Rhône hierarchy, Domaine Les Pallières leads the way. The 94-point 2015 Pallières Les Racines, from Wine Spectator’s 97-point 2015 vintage, struck James Suckling as “elegant, lithe, and profound,” as well as “layered and long.” The famille Brunier of Châteauneuf-du-Pape flagship Domaine du Vieux Télégraphe partnered with legendary importer Kermit Lynch to return this property — which has been farmed continuously for six centuries — to glory, and “Les Racines” comes from the oldest vines on the property, averaging 70 years. The result is a ripe and garrigue-rich red that has earned raves from Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate and Vinous, and stands tall among world-famous Châteauneufs in Suckling’s 2015 Rhône assessment. We have a mere 35 cases for $39.99 per bottle. We’ve forked over twice as much for this wine at NYC’s Bar Boulud — but we were happy to do it.

“When it hits all cylinders,” Robert Parker noted in the Wine Advocate several years after Kermit Lynch and the Bruniers took over, “(Domaine Les Pallières) is to Gigondas as Rayas is to Châteauneuf-du-Pape.” Around the time he gave this glowing endorsement, Parker also lamented the confusion of parcels and micro-climates that made up Domaine Les Pallières. This was obviously on the new proprietors’ minds as well: After spending their first decade as owners rehabilitating the winery and the vineyards, Lynch and the Bruniers then focused on Pallières’ terroir, dividing the property into two lieux-dits in 2007.

“Les Racines” is Pallières’ old-vine bottling: A powerhouse to be enjoyed now or after several years of cellaring, composed of 80% Grenache, 15% field-blended Syrah and Cinsault, and 5% Clairette. The 2015 “Les Racines” boasts the ripe fruit and clay-and-limestone minerality that proves why Gigondas, according to Hugh Johnson and Jancis Robinson, “rivals Châteauneuf-du-Pape itself.”