Domaine Saint Damien Plan de Dieu Cotes du Rhone Vieilles Vignes 2017

Description

“Proprietor Joel Saurel, backed up by the inimitable Philippe Cambie as his consultant, has transformed this estate into one of the greatest in Gigondas, rivalling the two top producers, Yves Gras’ Santa Duc and Louis Barruol’s Saint Cosme.” Robert Parker, The Wine Advocate

“Domaine Saint-Damien has been producing some of the region’s most elegant wines for years, but for some reason they rarely get the attention they deserve. Pricing here is also admirably fair, which makes this an address to be reckoned with for savvy Rhône wine lovers. The Saurel family, which has been farming here since 1821, now owns just over 12 hectares of vines in Gigondas, most of them quite old and cropped low, and the wines are aged in large, traditional concrete vats and old foudres and usually bottled on the young side “to preserve freshness,” as Romain Saurel said. Saurel’s father, Joël, is largely responsible for the domaine’s current (insider) fame and was also the one who brought its vineyards up to Agriculture Biologique certification in 2012. These wines are now consistently delivering some of the southern Rhône’s greatest values in high-end wine.“
Vinous Media, February 2020

Domaine Saint-Damien is run by Joel and Amie Saurel and their son Romain who has now taken charge of the winemaking. The Saurel family had been tending vineyards for four generations, dating back to 1821, and until recently had been selling all of the grapes to negociants. In 1996 Joel resumed producing wine at the estate and in 1998 they brought on consulting winemaker Philippe Cambie. Vinification is classic with wines being fermented in large old cement tanks and aged in either cement tanks or large old foudres for the Gigondas.

Today the estate is comprised of 17 hectares of vineyards of which 12 are in Gigondas. All their vineyards are certified organic since 2012. The vines are an average age of 50 years and are very low yielding. The wines of Gigondas are bottled according to individual terroir (particularly soil type) known as the Saint Damien Trilogy. Incredibly complex geology/soils translates to terrific results.

Delightful concentration and multilayered Cotes du Rhone thanks to depth of fruit from the old vine material. What a winner!

80% Grenache (1949), 15% Carignan (1948), 5% Mourvèdre (1978). This wine is sourced from the lower terraced parcels of the Plan de Dieu lieu-dit, in the commune of Violès. The Grenache and Carignan vines are over 70 years old and the Mourvèdre 40 years. The wine is fermented for 30 days in concrete vats before 8 months of aging (again in concrete). The wine is bottled without fining or filtration.

“Full-bodied, rich and concentrated, the 2017 Cotes du Rhone Villages Plan de Dieu Vieilles Vignes looks even better than the 2016. Garrigue, violets and licorice notes mark the black cherry fruit as something far beyond ordinary. Impressive.” (91-93) points, The Wine Advocate, Sept 2018

RRP $38 Last bottles of this vintage!

(New 2018 vintage available in 6 pack buy .. click here)