Vinopolpick Monday Bonus 8-24-20

Gigondas’ is the finest source of value for profound wine in the Rhone.  The top estates deliver wines that compete with the very best wines in Chateauneuf-du-Pape, but at prices that are a fraction of their competition.  On offer today, Santa Duc, is one of the very best in the region and our pricing on most of their wines is the best in the country—a killer combination.

Santa Duc is perhaps the only estate who can match Saint Cosme as the “Most Important Winery in Gigondas”.  Owners of some of the finest vineyards in the Southern Rhone, Santa Duc is a legendary producer that more than lives up to their reputation. Unlike Saint Cosme, though, their top wines aren’t yet commanding triple-digit pricing.  In fact, their most expensive Gigondas bottling is still under $50—and is an absolute stunner.

Santa Duc manages to make Gigondas taste aristocratic—taming the wild mountain personality of the Dentelles into something that is at once both intensely powerful and also nuanced and complex.

These are wines that manage the neat trick of being absolutely delicious now while having a track record of aging gracefully.  Recent notes for older bottles like the ’95 and ’98 Hautes Garrigues are glowing, yet the wines can be on your table tonight and impress.  In the last decade or so, the winery has extended its holdings into Chateauneuf and those wines are as brilliant as you’d expect, as well.

These are wines to buy in quantity—you’re going to want to drink a lot of them now and have some in your cellar in ten years, as well.  They arrive this week and our pre-arrival pricing is especially sharp, so don’t delay.


Arriving Friday, August 28th:

Domaine Santa Duc Gigondas Clos Derriere Vieille, Rhone 2015 750ML ($49.95) $41.90 pre-arrival special
James Suckling 94 points “Mostly (80%) grenache with 10% each of mourvèdre and syrah. There’s a very impressive, sheer and crunchy texture to the palate and a peppery edge. Tannins drive a long, powerful finish. Best from 2020.”
Jeb Dunnuck 92-94 points “The 2015 Gigondas Clos Derrière Vieille (80% Grenache and 10% each of Syrah and Mourvèdre) comes from the wall vineyard located just beside the village. It offers terrific notes of dusty earth, dried cherries and herbes de Provence, medium to full-bodied richness, silky tannin and a beautiful texture. Like the other 2015s, it’s going to drink nicely for 10-15 years.”
Josh Raynolds-Vinous 92-93 points “Deep ruby. Ripe raspberry, cherry liqueur, violet and a hint of garrigue on the deeply perfumed nose. Fleshy, appealingly sweet and expansive in the mouth, offering plush red and blue fruit flavors and a subtle note of candied licorice that builds in the glass. Becomes more energetic with air and finishes on a sweet red berry note, showing powerful thrust, harmonious tannins and impressive persistence.”

This is the lowest listed price in the USA today!
The next best price is $44.99

Domaine Santa Duc Gigondas Prestige des Hautes Garrigues, Rhone 2012 750ML ($49.95) $39 pre-arrival special
Josh Raynolds-Vinous 92 points “Saturated ruby. Powerful, deeply pitched black and blue fruit aromas are complicated by suggestions of licorice, woodsmoke and incense. Broad, palate-coating blackberry and cherry compote flavors open up slowly with aeration. Distinctly rich but showing surprising vivacity, with velvety tannins coming in late to shape the wine’s sweet finishing fruit.”
Wine Spectator 92 points “This has a solid core of raspberry, bitter cherry and plum fruit, liberally laced with iron, violet and bay leaf notes. The long, sleek finish lets the iron edge play out, revealing a hint of blood orange in the background. Best from 2016 through 2020. 100 cases imported.”

This is the only listing in the USA today!

Domaine Santa Duc Gigondas Prestige des Hautes Garrigues, Rhone 2015 750ML ($59.95) $49 pre-arrival special
Jeb Dunnuck 94-97 points “Lastly, the 2015 Gigondas Hautes Garrigues (60/40 Grenache and Mourvèdre) is a beauty boasting killer notes of dark fruits, crushed rocks, pepper, garrigue and scorched earth. This seriously good 2015 has building richness, a stacked mid-palate and a huge finish, all suggesting short-term cellaring will be your friend. It will keep for two decades of more.”
James Suckling 93 points “Mourvèdre steps up to one third of the blend while the balance is grenache. This has an attractive array of ripe dark cherry and blue plum fruits. The tannins are framed up with a deeper, wider shape. Try from 2020, this needs time.”
Josh Raynolds-Vinous 93-95 points “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.”
Wine Advocate 92-95 points “I loved the 2015 Gigondas Hautes Garrigues and this flagship cuvee is made from 65% Grenache and 35% Mourvèdre that’s brought up in foudre. It’s a full-bodied, concentrated, yet brilliantly proportioned Gigondas that has classy notes of blackberries, plums, garrigue and leather. It’s going to need 3-5 years of cellaring.”

Domaine Santa Duc Gigondas Prestige des Hautes Garrigues, Rhone 2016 750ML ($59.95) $49 pre-arrival special
Jeb Dunnuck 95+ points “Always the richest, most powerful wine in the lineup, the 2016 Gigondas Hautes Garrigues offers a rocking bouquet of black cherries, blackberries, bouquet garni, pepper, and fresh earth. Full-bodied, beautifully concentrated, and with building tannins, it’s certainly a more fresh, stylish example of this cuvée and is a perfect wine from readers wanting to understand the changes that have happened at this estate over the past decade or so. Give this beauty 2-4 years of bottle age and enjoy it over the following decade.”
Wine Advocate 95-97 points “Flowering garrigue, black cherries and licorice all pop on the nose of the 2016 Gigondas Les Hautes Garrigues. Full-bodied, rich, velvety and intense without being overbearing, it’s a tremendous effort, with the poise, grace and charm of Disney’s Fantasia ballet-dancing hippo. And the finish is long—really long.”

This is the lowest listed price in the USA today!
The average price is $59

Domaine Santa Duc Gigondas Aux Lieux-Dits, Rhone 2015 750ML ($39.95) $33 pre-arrival special
James Suckling 93 points “A fluid, fleshy and deeply structured wine with dark cherry and blackberry fruit flavors amid sturdy yet supple tannins. Good weight and presence. Drink now.”
Wine Spectator 93 points “Ripe but fresh, with a slightly high pitch to the mix of damson plum, cherry and rooibos tea aromas and flavors, backed by singed vanilla, tobacco and licorice root notes that give this a darker shade through the finish. Best from 2020 through 2030. 2,400 cases made, 700 cases imported.”
Josh Raynolds-Vinous 90-92 points “Ruby-red. Ripe red fruit and floral pastille aromas show very good detail and an energizing suggestion of white pepper. Palate-caressing raspberry and bitter cherry flavors blend depth and energy with a smooth hand and show no rough edges. Fine-grained tannins lend shape to a very long, red-fruit-dominated finish that features a subtle touch of star anise.”

This is the only listing in the USA today!

Domaine Santa Duc Chateauneuf-du-Pape ‘Le Pied De Baud’, Rhone 2015 750ML ($69.95) $51.90 pre-arrival special
Wine Advocate 94 points “The 2015 Chateauneuf du Pape Le Pied de Baud, a blend of 80% Grenache, 15% Mourvèdre and 5% Cinsault, offers compelling scents of rose petals and raspberries on the nose. While not as richly textural as some of the other cuvées, it’s still a lovely, hauntingly fragrant example of Châteauneuf du Pape.”
James Suckling 94 points “This has an array of darker berry and plum fruits with a brambly, lightly spicy edge, too. The palate delivers impeccably fresh, lithe and detailed tannin texture, as well as blue fruit flavors. Juicy and energetic. Long finish. Try from 2020.”

This is the lowest listed price in the USA today!

Domaine Santa Duc Chateauneuf-du-Pape ‘Les Saintes Vierges’ Rouge, Rhone 2015 750ML ($69.95) $59 pre-arrival special
Wine Advocate 95 points “The 2015 Chateauneuf du Pape Les Saintes Vierges is the most flattering of Santa Duc’s current releases, offering lushness and generosity on the palate, notes of cherries and licorice, creamy-supple tannins and a mouthwatering finish. It’s a blend of Grenache, Mourvèdre and Counoise.”

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