Châteauneuf Icon Beaucastel’s Greatest Bargain
- 94 pts Wine Enthusiast94 pts WE
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2019 Famille Perrin La Gille Gigondas Rhone Valley 750 ml
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- Temperature controlled shipping options
- Get credited back if a wine fails to impress
The Name Behind the Name
The Perrins are one of the most revered families not just in the Rhône Valley, but in all of France. They “routinely produce long-lived classics that are among the finest in the world,” according to Robert Parker, and wise wine lovers know not to let Beaucastel overshadow the other world-class reds they make in the Rhône.
The 2019 La Gille Gigondas might just be the family’s greatest value. A pedigree-packed red grown on a single rugged, terraced vineyard in the hillside village of Gigondas, it’s got an impressive 94-point Editors’ Choice honor from Wine Enthusiast, putting it alongside top Rhône reds from a vintage that Wine Advocate deemed “extraordinary.”
The Perrin family has been tapping an ancient hillside vineyard in Gigondas for La Gille for over a decade. Sitting on sand in the middle of the sloped hill, the vineyard is organically and biodynamically farmed—shades of Beaucastel right there. The plot’s northwest orientation naturally allows for a longer, slower growing season.
The Perrins note that vintages ending in “9” seem to be particularly blessed, and 2019 fits that description. An early budbreak kicked off a long growing season, and the grapes ripened beautifully over the hot summer. The vines—many of them sandy old-vine plantings of ungrafted Grenache—were picked in an uneventful harvest.
After a long maceration and a year in oak foudres and barrels (and now a couple more years in bottle), this 60-40 Grenache-Syrah blend is a quality-packed Rhône wine, and a cellar sleeper if we’ve ever seen one.