2004
Michel Gassier
Les Piliers
AC Costieres de Nimes
Vin de Pays du Gard
Syrah
$18.95 $18.80
$15.90
CSPC# 678086
(XD)
September 1, 2007 Vintages Release
January 28, 2008 Vintages Markdown
Wine Spectator (US)
Issue: December 2007
90 pts Top 100 Values of 2007
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Wine Spectator (US)
Issue: November 30, 2007– James Molesworth
90 pts
“Rock solid, with blackberry, fig, cocoa, violet and mineralnotes that are rich, yet pure and vibrant. Dark, fruit-filled finishshows solid length too. Drink now through 2008. 900 casesimported.”
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Michael Vaughan (CAN)
Issue: September 1, 2007 – Vintage Assessments
1 ½ stars (out of 3) – Above Average
“Extremely intense purple colour. Slightly edgy, dusty …”
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Rod Phillips (CAN)
Issue: September 1, 2007 – Winecurrent
4 ½ stars (out of 5)
“This is always an attractive wine and the 2004 vintage carries on the tradition. It’s a little less plush than the 2003, as you’d expect, but the familiar richness is here. Look for dominant flavours of red berries, cherry and peppery spice. It’s dry, quite tannic, well balanced, and a great partner for well-seasoned grilled lamb.”
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Vintages (CAN)
“I hope that [my wines] will evoke in you some of the emotions and sensations of my Mediterranean childhood: the warm caress of the wind, the opulent scent of parasol pines, the glimpse of a lizard ... Sharing these emotions around a table creates intense exchanges ... Experiences that are increasingly rare in this era of standardisation and uniform thinking. (Michel Gassier,
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Producer
Terroir: Rolled pebbles and red clay
Varietals : 100 % Syrah
Vinification :
o Yield limitation through spring pruning and “green harvest”.
o Actual yield: 2 tons per acre
o Selected leaf removal to improve grape ripeness and health.
o Late harvest in “sur-maturité” to promote skin and aromatic
ripeness.
o 100% destemming.
o Pre-fermentation maceration (5 days) to maximize primary
fruit.
o Temperature controlled (26°C) fermentation.
o Warm (28°C) post-fermentation maceration (2 weeks) without
“remontage” to optimize extraction and round off tannins.
o Aging in French oak barrels for 12 months.
Tasting Notes :
o Appearance : A dark ruby almost black color.
o Nose : Elegant and intense, this alluring nose is rich in dark
berries, licorice, violet and black current with “garrigue”
spices.
o Taste : Rich and dense, the complexity of the aromas play out
progressively. The tannins are superbly ripe and delicate.
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Background(with reference to the 2003 vintage)
“Sometimes you need a wine that is what it is: just plain great for the money. Nothing pretentious, nothing of collectable value, just an outstanding wine for a Monday or Saturday night that will appeal to such a wide audience it’s a revelation. The best inexpensive wines believe they are worth a lot - they are not made to be “cheap” but are the top expression from a producer sold at a reasonable price – today’s offer fits this bill with a lot of room to spare...Michel Gassier can do no wrong at the moment and while his Cabernet may be known as the “baby Silver Oak” it’s his Syrah Les Piliers that will make him a household icon. If he can make wine like this at this price-point, what precedent does this set for his competitors? I remember when Clavel’s Syrah Copa Santa was all the rage (at the $15-18 price point) and this is better.
This is the golden zone of the Costieres de Nimes where the small pebbles of the “gres” terroir dominate. Gassier’sestate is actually on the border of the Southern Rhone and theinfluence of the RhoneRiver is obvious. He is not interested in producing a good wine or a wine that is light and easy to enjoy- he wants to produce Chave Hermitage from $10 fruit. In this climate, his 100% Syrah cuvee reacts more like an intense vintage of Sorrel Le Greal or Delas Les Bessards than of his neighbor’sGrenache dominated cuvees. In 2003, many Southern Rhones were flawedwith transparent alcohol and blowsy personalities due to their reliance on Grenache - not so here as there is no Grenache. Gassier’s Les Piliers Syrah shows all the character that made 2003 Hermitage so sought after. This could only be achieved by someone dedicated to his craft and dedicated to aconsumer oriented approach. He could have charged $20 or more for this wine but he didn’t (his dedication to many philosophicalprincipals is one of the reasons the Wine Spectator wrote an entirearticle about him being the savior of Nages). This is a huge wine, with black strapping Syrah character, skin tannin and a personality the size of Texas. It is a rainbow of flavorand spice-tone with grit, substance and power - with the natural tannin and (surprise) acidity to back it up. Open this treat and you will have a wine that will win many hearts at your next dinner partyfor 1 or for 100. One of the Syrah-based bargain finds of the year- period. This is a wine that almost everyone on the email list will want around the house - from lovers of Cote Rotie to SQN...”
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Wine Spectator article (mentioned above)
100% Syrah from Michel Gassier's Les Pilier’s vineyard in the Costieres de Nimes. Gassier’s first release of Cabernet Sauvignon from this vineyards was a huge hit (and a huge wine) that we nicknames the mini-Silver Oak for it’s rich, fat minty flavors. This new blockbuster release of Syrah is produced along the same lines; Black in color, port-like in weight and just packed to the gills with spicy, toasty flavors. We think we have another winner here - A powerful wine -
Details:
DOMAINE MICHEL GASSIER -Rhone Valley, France
The 70-hectares Château de Nages extends over an exceptional terroir called “grès”, whose rolled pebbles were brought by the Rhône river during the Mesozoic period. Warm and precocious, it brings each varietal to an extreme maturity, giving wines of incomparable aromas, those of a unique soil. Much of the estate is planted with Syrah, which excels in our soil and bears colour-drenched, concentrated, tannic grapes. Grenache is reserved for the poorer soils which temperits exuberance. In small doses, Mourvèdre confers an original, spicy complexity. After several trials,we discovered that certain parcels of our terroir had a predilection for Roussanne. Its tiny honey-coloured berries release their aromatic richness in the wine. Grenache Blanc rounds the blends with its unique mineral note. All year long, we patiently work the vineyards (debudding, trellising, deleafing, green harvesting) in order to bring to the winery healthy grapes at their ideal ripeness. The use of the latest technologies allows us to adapt the vinifications to each parcel, each varietal, without ignoring the signature traits of a specific vintage. In the silence of the temperature-controlled cellars, all the efforts made in the vineyards and the winery are naturally continued. Oak barrels perfect the most promising “cuvees” and awaken the great wines.” MICHEL GASSIER
WINE SPECTATOR ARTICLE -
“If it weren’t for winemaker Michel Gassier’s wanderlust, Château de Nages might never have become the star that now sheds a bright light on Costières de Nîmes.
When Gassier went to the United States in 1983, at the age of 23, he didn’t think winemaking was a noble occupation. On his family’s 370-acre farm just outside Nîmes, along the border of the Southern Rhône and the Languedoc, vineyards were mixed with orchards, and wine was made from huge yields, sold in bulk and loaded into tanker trucks.
“I didn’t want to come back,” said Gassier. For 10 years, he worked in the United States: at the French Embassy in Washington, D.C.; for a small New York wine importer; for Bordeaux shipper CVBG Dourthe Kressmann; and for Sara Lee. During this time, he discovered there was more to wine than the plonk produced back home.
“When you grow up in a region where everyone makes poor table wine, you have a hard time realizing that it can be done differently,” he said. In America, he met Californians and Bordelais, and their wines - a favorite of his is Joseph Phelps Insignia - opened his eyes. “I learned that winemaking could be fascinating.”
In 1993, he left Chicago with his American wife, Tina, and came back to the family estate, eager to apply his marketing savvy and engineering background.
Soon after his return, Gassier convinced his father, Roger, to bottle part of his production. The elder Gassier, who made two simple reds, also planted new grape varieties, including Roussanne, Sauvignon Blanc and Viognier. Today, the estate makes 54,000 cases - 13 wines from more than 250 acres of vineyards, most of them in the Costières de Nîmes appellation, which is on the periphery of the area hit by the recent, devastating storm in southern France.
Originally, Michel assumed responsibility for winemaking, but his father kept control of the vineyards, producing up to 7 tons per acre. Three years ago, the elder Gassier retired, and Michel, 42, took charge, cutting yields by nearly half in the Syrah parcels to improve the wines.
Michel prunes his vines severely and does a green harvest, but he also attributes the lower crop level to the grass that he sows between the rows of vines, a technique that forces the root system to dig deeper and that results in more flavorful fruit.
Stricter selection has benefited the château’s Joseph Torrès cuvées, named after Michel’s great-grandfather, who bought the land. The 2000 Joseph Torrès white (90, $20, 1,500 cases), which is based on Roussanne, shows pure, clean citrus and peach aromas. The 2000 Joseph Torrès red (91, $20, 4,000 cases), made from Syrah and aged for a year in a combination of new and used oak barrels, is full-bodied and silky, elegant and modern in style.
“America helped open my mind and taught me not to accept things just because they had been done for years,” Gassier said. “In the U.S.A., if you don’t like it, you change it.”
Les Piliers (the pillars) is one of Gassier’s experimental vineyards planted to Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah.”
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Resources
Merchandising sheet from producer
Merchandising sheet with Wine Spectator review
Wine Spectator article of October 4, 2002
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