Domaine la Bouissiere, Gigondas, Rhone, France 2019

“Juicy and well-built, with lots of coiled energy behind the panoply of cassis, plum paste and raspberry coulis flavors. The finish is streaked with red licorice, floral and mineral details as the fruit keeps pace. Best from 2023 through 2035.”-94WS

In the sultry south, altitude matters. Wines from Domaine la Bouïssiere hail from some of the highest vineyards in Gigondas, and thus are markedly more balanced, elegant and age-worthy than wines from the lowlands.

In the 1960s, Antonin Faravel began to carve his vineyards out of the crumbling stone cliffs of the Dentelles de Montmirail (pictured on the family’s wine labels). He knew that the cooler temperatures and rocky soils would produce perfectly ripe grapes, with better acidic balance and lower alcohol, too. While other winemakers quickly followed Antonin’s lead, Domaine la Bouïssiere without question is the original, high-altitude Gigondas.

Yet it certainly takes more than a mountain to make a world-class red. Antonin’s sons, winemakers Thierry and Giles Faravel, border on the fanatical when it comes to the health of their vines and grapes. Theirs are wines that are intimately tied to and faithfully reflect the rugged, sensual beauty of the Provençal landscape from which they’re born.

Most of the Faravel family’s Gigondas vines are located in a high-altitude, narrow valley between the Dentelles de Montmirail, a row of steep granite cliffs west of Mont Ventoux. Top soils are thin and very rocky; sub-soils are solid rock. (These vineyards are so steep that the Faravels have to use a tractor with caterpillar treads to get up and down.) Vines are cared for according to organic principles as each vintage allows. The oldest vines are between 60 and 70 years old.

Harvest is performed by hand, and grapes are partially destemmed and lightly crushed, depending on the vintage. Fermentation on indigenous yeasts takes place in unlined cement tanks or stainless steel tanks; wines age in a combination of tank, larger foudre and barrique. Wines are bottled by gravity and are unfined and unfiltered.