Domaine Notre Dame des Pallières Gigondas “Bois des Mourres”
WHY WE LOVE IT
- Les Mourres is a cru site sitting in the shadows of the famed “dentilles,” vines here very old.
- Bois de Les Mourres is essentially a stricter selection of the winery’s old vine “Les Mourres” fruit with barrel aging rather than concrete.
- The subsoil of limestone gravel, very poor, has the advantage of well draining rainwater. (Fluvial alluvium of medium terraces dating from Riss Glacial Stage).
Varietal Composition: 80% Grenache, 10% Mourvèdre, 10% Syrah
Elaboration: The selection of old vines is manually harvested, 80% of the grapes are then scraped. The grapes remain in the vat for more than 30 days, during which, reassembling and shedding succeed each other with a temperature control (max. 30 °); then racking and pressing the marcs whose wine says “press” is discarded; Malo made, the aging is done during 10 months in French oak barrels (1/3 new, 1/3 of “1 wine”, 1/3 of “2 wines”)
Tasting Notes: Beautiful garnet color, elegant, brilliant and limpid. The nose is rich, with notes of spices, licorice, roasting, plum. The palate is velvety, round, with well-tanned tannins and a nice freshness, giving great persistence in the finish.
PRESS
2013 – 90-92 Vinous
2015 – 91-93 Wine Advocate | 91-93 Vinous
2016 – 90-92 Vinous | 93 Wine Enthusiast | 94 Jeb Dunnuck | 94 Wine Advocate
2017 – 91-93 Wine Advocate | 92-93 Vinous | 93 Wine Enthusiast “Cellar Selection” | 94 Jeb Dunnuck
2018 – 92 Vinous | 93 Wine Advocate | 93 Wine Enthusiast | 93 Jeb Dunnuck
2019 – 91 Vinous | 92 Wine Enthusiast | 93 Jeb Dunnuck
2021 – 90 Vinous | 90+ Jeb Dunnuck
ABOUT THE WINERY
Domaine Notre Dame des Pallières is a very old family estate, whose name comes from a place of pilgrimage visited by the Provençal people in the middle ages who believed that the fountain on the property would protect them from the plague.
Claude Roux and his cousin Jean-Pierre have so many generations of Gigondas wine making experience in their family that they don’t know exactly how many of their relatives have been involved up to now – Antique writings suggest that this Domain existed in the 900’s. Fortunately this tradition is continuing with Claude’s children, Isabelle and Julien, gradually taking over the day to day responsibilities of farming, production, and administration.
Vineyard holdings total 74 acres in Gigondas, Sablet, and Cotes du Rhone.
When asked about their methods they smile and explain that they are simply following the traditional methods of the family members that came before them.