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2023 Gigondas
Domaine de Durban
Throw a rock (or a riverbed stone) in the southern Rhône and chances are you’ll land on a bottle whose contents, for the price, wouldn’t hold a candle to Henri Leydier’s Gigondas from Domaine de Durban. Bottled in small quantities, it is ounce for ounce one of the best bargains in our book, and perhaps the entire region.
Squarely cut and sturdily built, Henri is a third-generation winegrower who inherited the hefty hands of someone destined for arduous vineyard and cellar work. A glass of wine in his grasp looks fragile, almost miniature. But like Henri, his Gigondas—densely concentrated and deeply opaque—is more refined than meets the eye. Grenache and a generous dose of Syrah are entirely de-stemmed, and never come in contact with oak during fermentation or ageing. The resulting wine is distinctly smoky and sculpted, with structured tannins, and a whiff of wild violet. It’s a striking wine whose Syrah qualities really shine.
Last time I visited the estate with colleagues to taste with Henri, he served up heaping plates of black olive tapenade, slabs of chunky pâté, and perhaps the most versatile dish around—anchovy pizza! With an easy, gap-toothed smile and gentle gaze, Henri poured one vintage after another of cool Gigondas from his chilly stone cellar. He left us feeling charmed and welcome, and so did his wine.
—Jane Augustine
Wine Type: | red |
Vintage: | 2023 |
Bottle Size: | 750mL |
Blend: | 70% Grenache, 30% Syrah |
Appellation: | Gigondas |
Country: | France |
Region: | Southern Rhône |
Producer: | Domaine de Durban |
Winemaker: | The Leydier Family |
Vineyard: | Planted in 1974, 6 ha |
Soil: | Clay, Limestone |
Aging: | Aged in concrete tanks |
Farming: | Lutte Raisonnée |
Alcohol: | 15% |
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About The Producer
Domaine de Durban
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Kermit once said...

Kermit once said...
For the wines that I buy I insist that the winemaker leave them whole, intact. I go into the cellars now and select specific barrels or cuvées, and I request that they be bottled without stripping them with filters or other devices. This means that many of our wines will arrive with a smudge of sediment and will throw a more important deposit as time goes by, It also means the wine will taste better.