Description
About Domaine Santa Duc Wines
1874 . The first buildings. Six generations follow one another at Domaine Santa Duc and in turn, each brings its stone to the building on this vineyard of Gigondas renowned since the Gallo-Roman era for its red wines of character. Grenache, Mourvèdre, Syrah and Cinsault are all noble grape varieties that the Famille Gras strives to highlight.
1985. Yves Gras takes over from his father Edmond and gives a new international dimension to the estate’s wines with abundant ripe fruit, wild herbs and great length. Very quickly, Robert Parker writes: “Santa Duc combines the muscle, the richness and the fire of a classic Gigondas with a degree of elegance and purity that many wines from this appellation lack”. In 2005, the book “The greatest estates in the world”, by the same author, published by Simon & Schuster, highlights the long history and the unique character of the wines of the Estate. The “Les Hautes Garrigues” cuvée, from one of the best vineyards in the region, located on the Gigondas plateau, has become an iconic wine. This wine reveals an immediately recognizable expression of the terroir of the Garrigue and a distinctive minerality drawn from clayey and incredibly stony soils. The vision of Yves Gras, as piercing as that of the bird of prey from which the name of the estate was taken (the name “Santa Duc” refers to the eagle owl that lives in the region) leads him ever further. Continuing his search for fresh terroirs conducive to the production of great wines, he acquired magnificent plots of land in Châteauneuf-du-Pape, in the Crau area.
1994 . Yves Gras is embarking on a new project. It rehabilitates and enhances a forgotten Clos, magnificently located above the church and the hospices of the village of Gigondas: the Clos Derrière Vieille. For Benjamin, who is taking over the reins of the estate, one thing is certain: if the soils and the exposure differ between this Clos in monopoly and “Les Hautes Garrigues”, the philosophy remains, of course, the same. Massal selections, biodynamic cultivation, whole harvest, fermentation with indigenous yeasts, minimal intervention, bottling without filtration…
This unique know-how, which is also found on the plots of Châteauneuf-du-Pape – La Crau Ouest, Les Saintes Vierges, Le Pied de Baud, Habemus Papam – allows Benjamin to reveal the fundamental characteristics of a great wine. : balance, elegance, purity and depth. An obvious choice for a family of winegrowers born at the foot of the Dentelles de Montmirail, whose splendor and natural beauty are a daily source of creative inspiration.
