2016 Château Gigognan Clos du Roi Châteauneuf-du-Pape 750 ml

Eyes closed, a deep, dark-fruited whiff and a spice-tinged sip of today’s gorgeous Châteauneuf-du-Pape will make you think you’re drinking one of the legends that lives in the Rhône’s 95-point zone. Open your eyes, and you’re head over heels for an upstart that claimed an icon-like score—and kept its insurgent price. 

That’s because the fast-rising 95-point Wine Enthusiast Editors’ Choice Château Gigognan Clos du Roi, crafted by the man Wine Spectator dubbed “Châteauneuf-du-Pape’s Driving Force,” boasts the ripe red fruit, muscle, and finesse that we expect from the rulers of the region. With black-fruited aromas mingling with leather and herbs and a robust palate of blackberry and black cherry tinged with lavender, tapenade, and spice, it’s a powerhouse Châteauneuf-du-Pape that pairs a stellar score with an incredible price.

Château Gigognan sits on a centuries-old monastery and boasts vineyards that are more than 100 years old, and when the Callet family purchased it in 1996, they set about revitalizing it immediately. They converted to organic agriculture (receiving Ecocert certification in 2010), replanted vines, and installed a new vinification cellar with stainless steel and concrete tanks. 

But it was just a decade ago that they truly declared their ambitions by hiring Philippe Cambie. Known as the Michel Rolland of the Rhône for his Midas touch with Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Cambie’s roster is heavy with bold-face names like Bosquet des Papes, Clos du Caillou, Le Vieux Donjon, and Clos St. Jean, where he’s racked up eight 100-pointers from Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate. The publication even named him their Enologist of the Year in 2010. 

Cambie has taken the fruit of Gigognan’s stellar terroir, which sits in Châteauneuf-du-Pape’s driest zone and enjoys 2,800 hours of sunshine a year, and turned it into a formidable red. The grapes are hand-harvested, triple-sorted, esteemed, and crushed before a four-to-six-week maceration that brings out beautiful color and tannic structure. After fermentation in concrete, the wine is aged in 30% used barriques and 70% stainless steel.

It’s safe to say that Château Gigognan has gotten their money’s worth out of Cambie, because his results are phenomenal: a lush 95-point Châteauneuf that had us shaking our heads at the price—until, of course, we reached back for another irresistible sip. This is what a top enologist like Philippe Cambie can achieve in Châteauneuf in a top vintage. The only thing he can’t do is go back and make more, so claim yours before we run dry.