My friend and neighbor Larry invited me over for wine and football yesterday. He has that endless all NFL games on satellite tv thing, and a big hd flatscreen to watch them on, and he wanted to try some of his newly purchased stash of Domaine du Cayron Gigondas. Gigondas is a southern Rhone region whose grape varieties mirror Chateauneuf du Pape generally (grenache, syrah, mourvedre, etc.).
Earlier this year we had an '89 of this wine which was incredible. Larry decided to start collecting it.
The specifics: the 1997 had a room filling nose, complex, subtle, changing, with a deep dark fruit taste that kept shifting. Amazingly complex with good acidity (just a touch of va), and an olive toned very long finish. There are tannins left, but I'd say the wine is at its peak right now, and should be drunk in the next year or two.
The '03 was a surprise to me. A very shy nose, with bright red fruit flavors, masking tannins, excellent acidity, and a very balanced wine, it has loads of potential, and did not taste like a "hot" vintage to me at all. A really nice wine.
The '04 was an all around darker wine. Again, the nose was quite shy, but the fruit was in the darker fruit vein, again with good acidity and tannin. I preferred the '03, but Larry preferred the '04. Both wines will be wonderful between 5 and 10 years from now.
Domaine du Cayron is a bargain at current prices (recent vintages about $20). There are fascinating pieces on the propietor Michel Faraud and his non-interventionist philosophy circulating on the net. The wines are imported by Kermit Lynch I believe, and are widely available. These are wonderfully complex wines when aged. My recommendation: seek them out. Jim