Gigondas Les Hautes Garrigues 2015

DOMAINE SANTA DUC

Gigondas Les Hautes Garrigues
2015

  • Organic
  • Biodynamic
Country
France
Regulated designation
Appellation origine controlée (AOC)
Region
Rhône Valley
Subregion
Southern Rhône
Appellation
Gigondas
Varietal(s)
Grenache
Mourvèdre
Colour
Red
Producer's website

About this winery

Domaine Santa Duc was founded in Gigondas 1874 and is now led by 6th generation owner and winemaker, Benjamin Gras. After Benjamin received his diploma of oenology at the University of Bourgogne he spent time at Domaine de la Romanée-Conti and Bodega Vega-Sicilia learning from some of the wine world's most famous estates. The goal at Santa Duc has always been to produce top-quality fruit from impeccably tended vineyard sites, the style of winemaking has changed with each generation....

See the DOMAINE SANTA DUC detail page for more information on this brand

Product notes

This plot of vines are planted exclusively on the Hautes Garrigues which serves as the center of the domain. A stony Quaternary soil of red clay.

Production notes

Harvested by hand with a strict selection process ; the whole harvest macerated for two months. Partial destemming. The wine was aged in recent oak casks (foudres) ans terracotta jars for 18 months before bottling.

Tasting notes

The roots of the vines have to push through 8 meters of barren and draining alluvial soils before reaching the deeper basis of blue clay. Grenache loves this soil, and here is where it expresses its full power. After being replanted for many years, the proportion of Mourvèdre has steadily increased to 40%. It brings freshness, licorice aromas and structure to the wine. The terroir creates deep, reputable wines, with spice and a dense tannin structure and exceptional longevity.

Press reviews

Jeb Dunnuck

- 96 points -

October 2020

The flagship is 2018 Gigondas Les Hautes Garrigues and is another red from this estate that does everything right. Deep ruby/purple-colored with a brilliant bouquet of ripe wild strawberries, blueberries, ground pepper, garrigue, and new saddle leather, it hits the palate with medium to full-bodied richness, flawless balance, and building yet seamless tannins. It’s certainly in the new style of this estate and is beautifully done. Enjoy bottles anytime over the coming two decades. The young yet obviously talented Benjamin Gras continues to make an elegant, beautifully balanced style of wine from this benchmark estate in Gigondas, which now also produces a handful of terrific Châteauneuf du Pape. He’s made the most of the 2018 vintage, and these are impressive wines.

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Decanter

- 95 points -

September 2019

This is a profound wine – a very lithe, full, flowing style, quite nakedly fruity. The acidity is a little on the low side and it’s currently pretty backward but harbouring some subtle floral and spice notes among the brooding black fruits. The Mourvèdre has a strong stamp on the wine this year. It’s very long and deep with a sonorous finish. From very old vines, biodynamically-grown on red clay and limestone, partly destemmed which then spends 18 months in recent 3,600l Stockinger barrels and 8,00l amphorae.

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Wine Spectator

- 95 points -

Bruce Sanderson, October 2022 (Vintage 2019)

A beautifully crafted version, with both a bright, high-toned profile and a dense core of flavor and power. Offers melted red licorice, raspberry puree and warm baking spice upheld by chalky mineral, smoked sandalwood and salty, fresh acidity. Seamlessly integrated and elegant, this is just beginning to see its potential. Grenache and Mourvèdre. Drink now through 2030.

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 Wine and Spirits Magazine

- 94 points -

February 2014

Yves Gras bases this wine on very old grenache growing in red clay at the center of his estate, blended with 20 percent mourvèdre and two percent syrah. Partially destemmed and macerated on the skins for two months, it’s a dark and brooding Gigondas, a liquid take on the shadow thrown by Les Dentilles, the mountain peaks that loom above the vineyards. But there’s also sun, in the form of red rays of fruit and ripe black olives, and in the sense of warm stone.

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Vinous

- 94 points -

August 2019

Red Gently mulled loganberry, plum and black currant fruit flavors form the core, with dark tea, tobacco and alder notes filling in on the finish and echoing nicely.

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Wine Spectator

- 94 points -

December 2021 (Vintage 2019)

Packed and ready for some cellaring, this offers a core of cassis and plum reduction notes wrapped in red and black licorice accents that carry through a tar-streaked finish, where light savory and mineral accents also play out. This just needs a little time to stretch out fully. Grenache and Mourvèdre. Best from 2024.

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Wine Spectator

- 94 points -

November 2018 (Vintage 2015)

Delightfully ripe, with a mélange of blackberry, black cherry and fig compote flavors melded together, backed by licorice root, roasted alder and bittersweet cocoa notes that add range through the finish. A hefty style, but has the detail to match.

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Vinous

(93-95) POINTS

September 2017

Full ruby. Smoke-accented aromas of red and dark berry liqueur, incense, spicecake and candied flowers show outstanding energy and clarity. Sweet, seamless and broad in the mouth, offering concentrated black raspberry, boysenberry and lavender pastille flavors that fan out steadily with air. Rich but nervy and precise as well, carrying no excess fat. Velvety tannins frame an extremely long, incisive finish that leaves behind notes of sweet dark berries and candied flowers.

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Vinous

(92-94) POINTS

August 2018

Bright violet. Spice- and floral-accented aromas of black raspberry, boysenberry and candied licorice, along with a smoky mineral element that builds in the glass. Alluringly sweet and pliant in the mouth, offering intense red and blue fruit and lavender pastille flavors that are given spine by a core of juicy acidity. Closes extremely long, with emphatic, spicy cut, harmonious tannins and lingering florality.

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