Domaine du Terme, Gigondas (Rhône Valley, France) 2010

I’ve seen this wine reviewed (by talented tasters) with scores that are quite significantly lower than what the wine now deserves, and can only assume that it was tight when first released (which isn’t surprising, given the relatively high acidity of wines from the 2010 vintage).  Be that as it may, the wine has now really blossomed into something beautiful, with a degree of density that makes it almost sappy in mouthfeel while still showing remarkable lift and freshness thanks to all of that 2010 acidity.  Big and rich and very deeply flavored, it nevertheless seems downright lithe–which is a bit uncanny, but the wine remains natural-seeming, very pure, and utterly convincing.  This is not yet at its apex, and after a couple of additional years in bottle, I wouldn’t be surprised to discover that my score was also too low.