2021 Domaine Santa Duc, Gigondas, Les Hautes Garrigues

Located near Chateauneuf, Gigondas is one of the greatest, often overlooked Southern Rhone vineyards out there, and Santa Duc is among the finest examples – they’ve been crafting benchmark wines for some time now. This is Santa Duc’s flagship wine. It comes from a prime part of the ‘Les Hautes Garrigues’ vineyard where half a million years ago, a stream known as La Font des Papes deposited alluvial materials from its source high in the rocky, craggy Dentelles de Montmirail in this 3 hectare section of the vineyard called the Cône de la Font des Papes. The resulting balance between drainage and water retention of this vineyard, allied with the Mistral’s cleansing breeze, helps the Gras family grow grapes of outstanding quality --all without chemicals. The Santa Duc Gigondas ‘Les Hautes Garrigues’ is a complex, age-worthy red, crafted from comically low 15 hl/ha yields of 50% Grenache (planted in the 1960s) and 50% Mourvèdre (planted in the 1970s). This old vine wine ages partially in terracotta amphorae.