The promising 2018 Gigondas Seigneur de Lauris combines pretty, luscious scents of cherries, raspberries and stone fruit. Fruit-forward, supple and elegant, this medium to full-bodied blend of 60% Grenache and 40% Syrah should drink well on release and for 6-7 years thereafter.

A pleasant surprise to emerge from my blind tastings, Arnoux's 2017 Gigondas Seigneur de Lauris should prove to be one of the firm's best recent efforts. A 60-40 blend of Grenache and Syrah, with a third matured in new oak, it's nevertheless reasonably pure, with distinctly pretty notes of roses and violets, black tea, raspberries and cherries. It's medium to full-bodied, with silky tannins and a long, mouthwatering finish.

The 2015 Gigondas Seigneur de Lauris is a 60-40 Grenache-Syrah blend that spent over a year in oak prior to bottling. It starts off smelling like pfeffernüsse and cherries, developing more depth and complexity on the full-bodied, supple palate before finishing long, with ripe, velvety tannins. It should drink well for a decade.

Not yet bottled, the 2014 Gigondas Seigneur de Lauris (60/40 Grenache and Syrah aged in foudre and second fill barrels) is a charming, mid-weight, elegant red that has pretty notes of strawberries, flowers, rose petals and spice. Drink it over the coming 4-5 years.

Also an old vine cuvee, the 2012 Gigondas Seigneur de Lauris (70% Grenache, 30% Syrah, from 50-year-old vines) shows the purity and freshness of the vintage with its sappy underbrush, pure black raspberry fruit, crushed flowers and spice-driven aromas and flavors. Medium to full-bodied, with fine tannin and good acidity, it should be an outstanding wine and have 7-8 years, if not a decade, of longevity. This large estate produces a bevy of rich, fruit-forward efforts that remain more than reasonably priced. Looking at the 2011s, this is a solid vintage here and the wines make the most of the vintage, with upfront fruit and texture. Importer: Grape Expectations, Raleigh, NC; tel. (919) 781-1655