2019 Domaine Santa Duc Clos Derriere Vieille Gigondas 750 ml

“Is this the finest estate in Gigondas?”

That’s what Robert Parker once wondered about Domaine Santa Duc, and true to form, he answered his own question: “Santa Duc has emerged in just over a decade as the number one estate for quality in Gigondas,” turning out bottlings that combine “the muscle, richness and fire of a classic Gigondas with a degree of elegance and purity that many wines of this appellation lack.”

Sporting a 95-point score from Vinous, Santa Duc’s 2019 Clos Derrière Vieille Gigondas is a Demeter-certified biodynamic, single-vineyard, old-vine beauty that stands with flagship bottles from Château de Saint-Cosme and even top-level Châteauneuf-du-Pape. It’s the kind of Rhône red that a two-MICHELIN-starred restaurant like Saison is quick to suggest to their guests. 

For six generations, Yves Gras’s family has faithfully tended vineyards on the high plateau near the village of Gigondas. Along with his son, Benjamin, Yves seamlessly blends over 100 years of family winemaking tradition with the best of modernity. Benjamin, who took the reins in the cellar in 2017, ferments with only indigenous yeasts, continuing the family’s minimal-intervention approach.

Yves acquired the Clos Derrière Vieille vineyard in 1994 and began to rehabilitate it, restoring the terraces, clearing underbrush, and farming organically, which allowed the 40-year old hillside vines to truly shine. We love the way the 2019’s dark fruit blooms from the glass with aromas of cassis, English Breakfast tea, and licorice spice. It’s going to please you through the next decade.