Gilles Barge is a wonderfully earthy and authentic character. His Cote-Rotie's display a firm structure with backbone, ripe spicy fruit which is backed with chewy round tannins. Given time, these features harmonise providing a wonderful perfume, velvety mouth-feel, layered earthy complexity and great persistence.

The Barge Condrieu smells like apricots, it is fresh and perfumed, with only 15% of the fruit seeing one-year-old oak for six months. The fruit weight and flavour on the palate is sublime; beautifully rich and flavorsome but oh-so elegant at the same time.

Gilles Barge is certainly one of the great sources of traditional Côte Rôtie and they are remarkably well priced when compared to his contemporary's wines.

'This domaine gives a prime example of traditional Côte-Rôtie. The wines are very consistent. Du Plessy is more aromatic, the Côte Brune has good muscle and breeding, and ages well. The new Le Combard Côte-Rôtie fits in between. The Condrieu and Saint-Joseph contain good fruit. Son Julien is interested in the whites, and they are set to improve as a result.' John Livingston-Learmonth

'McKay imports the sensational, refined wines of Gilles Barge, whose Condrieu is an exemplar of the more elegant, perfumed, floral aspects of the viognier grape, and whose Côte-Rôties are simply marvelous. The Cuvée de Plessy is all floral, ethereal spicy fruit and remarkable intensity, while the Côte-Brune is more powerful, burly and weighty. Both are exquisite examples of pure shiraz ….' Max Allen