Every day a drop, Châteauneuf & Gigondas
Year 16, No. 07
Highlights: Châteauneuf-du-Pape & Gigondas | Featured Croatia | DOQ Priorat 2021s
From a young age, when March ticked over on the calendar, I was always accustomed to hearing, “in like a lion out like a lamb” to infer that if it started out strong in terms of weather, it would end softly. The beauty of such phrases is that I doubt few if any of us look at day 1 and 31 day to see if folklore matches the reality and thus we keep saying it because it sounds nice, you know, just like gesundheit after someone sneezes.
Plunging into a new phase of life that held not one but two languages that were initially foreign to me, has of course led to even more quaint phrases, one of which in Catalan I actually like a great deal, al maig cada dia un raig (‘ig’ = ‘ch’) which is to say that in May, it rains every day. Obviously a changing climate has dealt this axiom something of a death blow, but this year, after a very warm end to April, May has indeed gotten very chilly and more importantly, wet. This is a fine thing as the vines outside my office window grow, their tendrils reaching for the heavens, prior to being weighed down by bunches of succulent grapes.
Weirdly, despite the well-known renewal of spring, for some reason it can also make me nostalgic and thus I often find myself looking back to the past both recent and old.
Like how it was just last month where I was in Châteauneuf-du-Pape and Gigondas researching the newest Regional Report that’s out now for subscribers who want to enjoy all that's amazing about these two pillars of the Southern Rhône. On the back of a generous 2025, it seems that people are generally up in spirits, despite the fact there are countless abandoned vineyards littering the fields outside the mains ‘crus’—a reality that’s terrifying but needing to faced regardless.
Then we look back a bit further into recent history with a Featured Report on Croatia based upon my last two weeks of travel in March. This crescent-shaped country in Southern Europe can definitely be tricky for anyone to wrap their heads around given the local grape variety names: Kujundžuša, anyone? Thus, slicing off a core group of wines that currently represent the best of what winemakers are doing seemed to make the most sense and be very useful for those that want to get ‘in’ on this wondrous land of wine.
Leading up to this year’s Priorat Report, it also seemed like a good time to look back at the wines of 2021 and how they’re currently tasting. It was a curious moment in time for the region and it was interesting to see just what form the wines took from what was one of my favorite vintages.
And why stop at just five years when we can wind the clock even further to look at how the wine bar of Movia Vinoteka in Ljubljana, Slovenia is now compared to how it was when I first visited nearly two decades ago. Spoiler alert: so much better.
So far, 2026 seems to be something on an inflection point and I’m not just saying that because I read it in a Chinese Horoscope prediction, which, admittedly I did. But, it really seems like a lot of what’s new is old in all facets of life and thankfully, for someone who doesn’t like to alter his fashion choices, loose-fitting jeans are indeed back!
Drink well, be well.
-Miquel
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The Featured Reports
Châteauneuf & Gigondas Report
Two of the pillars of Southern Rhône, the winemakers have had to work through some difficult vintages recently, but there is most definitely a light at the end of the tunnel. Regional analysis and tasting notes for over 300 wines.
Featured Croatia
Croatia isn’t a huge country, but it’s quite complex in terms of very divergent wine regions and has truly a bit of everything. This report takes the larger Croatia Report and makes a selection of a few, singular wines that exemplify all that’s excellent in this corner of Southern Europe.
And now this
Have you heard about the grape variety Pirene? Up until a few years ago, no one had as it was nearly lost, but this wine from the Torres winery in Costers del Segre shows the potential.
And a new look at this winery called Les Freses, down in Alicante that’s focused on producing wines from only the local/traditional varieties. There’s quite a lot to enjoy and the depth of the wines keeps growing with each vintage.
I haven’t had a Gigondas in so long! Thanks for the reminder