The 2018 Gigondas Tradition (79% Grenache, 15% Syrah, and 6% Mourv?dre) is a balanced, rich, medium to full-bodied effort that offers classic notes of darker berry fruits, ground pepper, and violets. It's balanced, has plenty of fruit, yet stays elegant and seamless. Drink it over the coming decade

Domaine Palon is a small estate with vineyards in Gigondas and Vacqueyras. The family has produced wine since the 1930s but only began to bottle under their own label in 2003. The two bottles featured in this post are my first experience with their Gigondas. I will admit to being surprised when I took my first sip of the 2015 Domaine Palon, Gigondas. Gigondas can be a bit of a beast when young, yet the 2015 vintage is drinking very well with the cool, rugged nature of the appellation. It is deep in flavor and already complex with earth and stones. The 2015 Vacqueyras is very good too so perhaps this should not be surprising. The 2018 Domaine Palon, Gigondas is a different wine. It revels in clean, fresh fruit with texture on the palate and crunchy acidity. It requires several hours to open up. The elevage appears to have changed so I suspect this will be a different sort of wine in three years as compared to the 2015. Grab the one which is more appealing to your palate! These wines are available at MacArthur Beverages. Aaron Nix-Gomez"