2010 Cote Nicault
The 2010 vintage produced wines with excellent color, flavor and varietal character. A cool spring delayed flowering and reduced fruit set. Temperatures remained moderate throughout the summer. To ensure fruit ripened completely, Gilles worked with Stone Tree’s owner and veteran viticulturist Tedd Wildman to drop clusters and open up the canopy early in the season so that when the warm weather arrived in September, the vines were well-positioned to finish ripening the grapes, yielding concentrated, balanced wines.
This inaugural vintage of Côté Nicault is a deeply colored wine with a broad spectrum of dark plum and fig aromas and flavors interwoven with hints of graphite and crushed white pepper. Its distinctive texture, structure and balance work in harmony with the wine’s sophisticated mouth feel and flavor profile that includes an assortment of warm spices and cassis persisting across a lengthy finish. Available as a 3 bottle allocation. One order per club member.
93 POINTS - WINE ADVOCATE
| Download Wine Notes |
| Vintage | 2010 |
| Varietal Composition | 35% Mourvèdre
35% Syrah
30% Grenache |
| Appellation | Columbia Valley |
| Acid | .52 grams / 100ml |
| PH | 3.88 |
| Alcohol | 14.80% |
| Wine Style | Rhone Style Blend |
| Volume | 750 ml |
2010 CÔTÉ NICAULT - 93 POINTS
"A voluptuously textured, full-bodied beauty, it offers up loads of blackberry, spice, flowers, roasted meats and hints of charcoal to go with a decadently rich palate that stays brilliantly focused and lively in the mouth. Coming from the rocky soils of the Stone Tree Vineyard on the Wahluke Slope and fermented with roughly 35% whole cluster, it is a character-filled effort that is a joy to drink."
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Inspired by his Rhône upbringing, Gilles knew he would one day craft a wine like Côté Nicault after his long-time friend and viticulturist Tedd Wildman introduced him to Stone Tree Vineyard on the Wahluke Slope in 2000. With its steep slopes and gravelly soils, the site is remarkably suited to Rhône varieties; expressing a distinct terroir found in the wine’s New World richness and freshness of fruit combined with Old World complexity.
Gilles Nicault has served as director of winemaking and viticulture since Long Shadows inception in 2003. As resident winemaker overseeing daily operations at Long Shadows' state-of-the-art winery in Walla Walla, Gilles works with a group of celebrated vintners from around the globe. It is his job to ensure that each winemaker's vision is realized in the vineyard and the cellar.
While many winemakers would find this proposition a daunting task, French-born Nicault describes the position as his "dream job." Those who know Gilles best say it is his insatiable curiosity and desire to learn something new every day as well as his winemaking skills that make him uniquely qualified for the position. In addition to executing daily operations at the winery, Gilles is the winemaker for Long Shadows' acclaimed Chester-Kidder, a Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah blend that carries his signature.
Gilles grew up in southern France and graduated from the University of Avignon with a degree in Viticulture and Enology. He honed his craft in the fabled hillside vineyards and wineries of Cotes Du Rhone, Provence and Champagne. On 1994, already a vintner of rising fame in his homeland, Gilles traveled to Washington State to expand his winemaking skills.
Impressed by Washtington State's vineyards and the opportunity to be part of a growing wine community, he stayed in the Columbia Valley, working for Staton Hills and Hogue Cellars before joining Woodward Canyon in 1996, where he stayed until moving to Long Shadows in June 2003. Sharing Woodward Canyon's passion for world-class wine, Gilles soon found Woodward Canyon's founder Rick Small was his ideal mentor and biggest champion. In 1999, Woodward Canyon named Gilles head of enology and production.
Gilles is married to winemaker Marie-Eve Gilla of Forgeron Cellars, also an acclaimed winemaker. The couple wilves in Walla Walla with their two children.
