Gigondas “Tank 11” 2023
A Gigondas from one of our longest-standing Direct Import partners, Moulin de la Gardette, bottled from the tank Jean-Baptiste Meunier normally keeps for topping up his barrels. Supple, open and full of black raspberry, lavender and bay leaf — Gigondas with a user-friendly attitude, at a Côtes du Rhône price.
- Area
- Gigondas, southern Rhône
- Grape variety
- Grenache-led Gigondas blend
- Soil
- Marl and limestone below the Dentelles de Montmirail
- Producer
- Moulin de la Gardette, Jean-Baptiste Meunier
- Characteristics
- Fleshy, lifted, effortlessly drinkable
During our visit, I noticed a tank off to one side and asked about its contents. This was the wine JB uses to top off barrels, round out his cuvées, and eventually sell the remainder to a négociant for blending. The vessel was simply marked Tank 11. Out of curiosity, I asked to taste it — and was immediately surprised. The wine was vibrant and fruit-filled, bursting with black raspberry, lavender, strawberries, and that classic hint of bay leaf. It was fleshy yet lifted, expressive yet effortlessly drinkable. This is one of the most delightful Gigondas I’ve tasted in years and exactly what the Discovery Series is meant to highlight: wines of place, character, and value.
Gigondas lies at the foot of the Dentelles de Montmirail, the jagged limestone ridge east of Châteauneuf-du-Pape, and its vineyards climb from the plain into the hills on soils of marl and limestone. The altitude and the cool air off the Dentelles give Gigondas its lift; the garrigue around the vines — thyme, bay, lavender — gives it its perfume. Grenache leads the blend by law, with Syrah and Mourvèdre in support.
Jean-Baptiste Meunier’s small estate in the village is one of the truest, most terroir-driven in the appellation, and we have worked with him for decades: his Tradition and Ventabren bottlings are Direct Imports and have their own page here. Tank 11 is the easy-going side of the same cellar — the wine he uses to top up his barrels and round out his cuvées, which until now went to a négociant for blending.
2023 in the southern Rhône was a warm, dry year with a heatwave in late August and a harvest that ran from early September. The wines are generous and ripe, and at estates that picked in time they kept their freshness; this one did. Keith opened his first bottles the week it landed and found all of its brightness intact.