The Lavau family moved from Saint-Émilion in Bordeaux to the Rhône Valley in 1964. In the intervening years they set up partnerships with 300 grape growers and now make their wines in three cellars. This 2010 Gigondas is remarkably smooth for a 2010, an example of the modern style, aged partly in small French-oak barrels as well as the more traditional larger vats. There's a youthful, grapy quality to the fruit, which is intertwined with licorice, herbs and well-integrated tannins. It could benefit from five to seven years in the cellar.