'...this is baby Gigondas and superb value,' JOHN GILMAN

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. These wines are now consistently delivering some of the southern Rhône’s greatest values in high-end wine. JOSH RAYNOLDS, vinous.com

The old vine bottling of Plan de Dieu from Joel and Romain Saurel is composed of a blend of eighty percent grenache (vines planted in 1949) and twenty percent mourvèdre (vines planted in 1978). The grapes are co-fermented in cement vats and aged in the same for eight months prior to bottling. To my palate, this is a baby Gigondas and is superb value!"  John Gilman, View from the Cellar.

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After the classical and cool-limbed wines from 2021, the sun is shining again in the Rhone for 2022. It’s early but critics are gushing over the wines from both the north and south where ripeness and structure have collided.

We’ve offered the Gigondas from Saint Damien in the past, now it’s time to turn your attention to their old vine Cotes du Rhone, which wine critic John Gilman dubs ‘a baby Gigondas and superb value!"

Just a few kilometres away from their hoard of Gigondas plots, Plan de Dieu is one of eleven ‘named’ villages within southern Rhone. It translates to ‘God’s Plain’ sitting at 100m altitude. This Cote du Rhone VV is a blend of 80% grenache and 20% mourvedre. The grenache comes from two plots, red clay injects richness and depth while galets (smooth rolled stones) restrict the yields, intensifying the flavours and tannins. The mourvèdre comes from sandy soils which adds buoyancy to the dark and inky black fruits, it’s a lovely marriage of fruits.

Domaine Saint-Damien has been in the hands of the Saurel family since 1821. Their old vines are lovingly tendered by the family who prefers hard work over sprays, organic farming is the chosen method. In the winery they take the more traditional route, using concrete vats and old foudres. To preserve freshness they tend to bottle early too.

2022 was warm and dry, the wines share a commonality with 2020. On the 2020 Jeb Dunnuck wrote, ‘It’s ripe, seamless, and undeniably delicious.’ It was on our tasting bench last week and we agree, it was spruiking the southern Rhone spice and garrigue flavours around a nucleus of dark raspberries and black plums. It’s dense yet quite light on its feet, a lovely wine for a cold night and a plate of something roasted and charry.  

This is a Rhone bargain that drinks well above its humble price point- $33 each in a 6-pack buy! If you prize depth, rolling tannins and spicy dark reds then this is for you.

Cheers

Gabrielle