2021 Domaine Les Pallières Gigondas Les Racines, Rhone Valley

Concentrated and silky with fine, fantastic tannins for the 2021 vintage, this is earthy and meaty with excellent concentration and a very long, firm yet polished finish. A cuvee based on grenache from vines growing around the winery. Should age extremely well. Drinkable now, but best from 2025.

95 points jamessuckling.com

The 2021 Gigondas Racines is quite stimulating, opening with blood orange, forest strawberry and licorice aromas. Grassy undertones add a delicate herbaceous streak. Medium-bodied and framed by gentle tannins, this 2021 red concludes with good intensity on the sapid finish.

90 points Nicholas Greinacher vinous.com Drink: 2024-2034

Domaine Les Pallières Gigondas Les Racines is a deep, soulful red from the heart of the Rhône Valley, made by the legendary Brunier family of Vieux Télégraphe fame in collaboration with importer Kermit Lynch. While the Terrasse du Diable cuvée comes from higher altitude vines, Les Racines—meaning "the roots"—is sourced from the domaine’s oldest Grenache vines, some over 75 years old, nestled at lower elevations near the winery in the village of Gigondas.

This wine is all about depth and finesse. It's a blend of mostly Grenache, with small amounts of Syrah and Cinsault, grown on sandy limestone soils that bring both power and precision. Everything is done with minimal intervention: organic farming, wild yeast fermentation, long maceration, and aging in large old oak foudres to preserve purity.

Expect a nose packed with wild red berries, black cherry, lavender, garrigue, and dusty earth. The palate is generous but restrained—ripe fruit wrapped in fine-grained tannins, with underlying freshness and a savoury, mineral finish. It's muscular, yes, but graceful too, with the kind of balance that makes you pause mid-sip.

Brilliant with grilled lamb, rosemary roasted duck, mushroom stew or a wedge of aged Comté. You can drink it now with a good decant or let it develop further in the cellar—Les Racines has the pedigree and structure to go the distance.