Domaine Santa Duc Châteauneuf-du-Pape Les Saintes Vierges 2020

Single-vineyard 70+-year-old vines in CdP from a historic producer six generations in the making, this limited 2020 bottling competes with the very best of the region! Impressive stuff for UNDER $70, and free shipping on 3 or more!

Domaine Santa Duc is a Gigondas legend, set at the foot of one of the most jaw-dropping vistas in Southern France – the jagged ridgeline of the Dentelles de Montmirail. These white teeth burst from the earth in steep shards of dramatic limestone peaks and make for some of the best rock climbing in the world. And hey, the wines are pretty fantastic, too! Santa Duc has been crafting some of the best for longer than most, and though they are certainly partial to Gigondas as their home site – they’ve managed to add some top parcels in Châteauneuf-du-Pape that demand your attention!

They have more recently become revered for delivering wines that compete with the very best in Châteauneuf-du-Pape (and with similar scores!) at a fraction of the price of many competitors. This incredible parcel of Les Saintes Vierges was their very first parcel in CdP – a glorious lieu-dit set on the eastern edge of the plateau just northeast of La Crau.

This 1.2 hectare plot is rough, deep, and porous sand – flecked with quartz, mica, and fossilized shells that flaked off the surrounding sandstone that goes back to the Miocene period. The vines are an average of 70+ years old and farmed using certified organic and biodynamic practices, only adding to the purity and complexities of the resulting wines. A co-planted and co-fermented blend of 80% grenache, with 10% each of mourvèdre and counoise – the grapes are hand-harvested and manually sorted two times prior to destemming. Fed by gravity into vats, fermentation takes place in temp-controlled stainless steel for 20 to 30 days, with two lengthy daily pump-over sessions, followed by malolactic fermentation in the vat. Final clarification through a wintertime settling process takes place before barrel filling in the spring for 18 months in 36-hectoliter Stockinger oak and 8-hectoliter terracotta barrels and then bottling unfined and unfiltered.

The wine is concentrated and structured, with a dark, inky depth that promises wonderment over the years to come. Plenty of spice, with lifted floral elements to lend elegance, and a symphony of red and black fruits that make this last long, long after each sip is swallowed. Blackberries, red plums, macerated strawberries, with decadent flourishes of smoked meats, roasted herbs, and savory black olives – and yet somehow, despite the intensity of every component – the overall effect is harmonious and silky. It is a wonder, to be certain, and a fantastic one at that! With pricing under $70 a bottle – and free shipping to your door on just 3 bottles or more – this is the sort of CdP you run, jump, and leap for! While we have it at least!

PAIRING IDEAS: A perfect match with a beef daube – a hearty stew with braised beef and plenty of root vegetables, brought to life with some roasted herbs and a bit of wine.