Domaine Les Pallieres

There is a reason why every wine we stock has made it to the list and - whatever the category - there is no point in having a bunch of identical clones populating it. Saint Cosme has its very attractive, medium-term drinking place; Bouissiere has that incredible fruit. Pallieres, too, has lovely fruit, but - above all - structure and ageability. This is not an easily approachable, early drinking wine, but one which needs a minimum of five years in the cellar. The Bruniers are implacable on this point and don`t care whether you or anyone else love it or hate it during that adolescent period. They see it as the truest, most natural expression of this great Gigondas terroir, and they`re not going to compromise to make early judgements easier. Hopefully this means that certain people won`t like it and prices will stay low! The Bruniers` commitment to their Gigondas estate is noteworthy, but bank managers and finance directors would be horrified. When they bought it in 1998, no replanting had been done in 30 years. One parcel of old, diseased vines has been ripped out but, rather than use chemical treatment - which would be cheap and quick - they are waiting five years to replant in order that the diseases die naturally with the roots. But that`s just the beginning. They will replant with their own vine cuttings - more costly, and more risky, than buying them in - and then wait. They wait not just for the plants to bear fruit - that would only be another 6 or 7 years - but for the fruit to be good enough - which could be 25! So unless Daniel and Frederic are much younger than they look, they must be planning this for the next generation. Managers of private equity would weep. (CW 2006)