Last year in June we have celebrated the second year of existence of a Santa Duc store in Nanjing, China. When it opened in 2008, we had the opportunity to visit the country, the town and the wine shop in 2009, and present our wines to journalists and wine enthusiasts in Nanjing.

Our impressions and souvenirs? A very warm welcome for our wines and our selves, and sincere interest in wine, as well as in French and European wine culture, the health aspects of wine, and its opulent universe of taste and flavours.

Meanwhile, we slowly succumbed to the flavours of the REAL Chinese cuisine we discovered in the “Central Kingdom” – delicious and savoury dishes perfectly harmonizing with our Rhone-wines.

A burgundy coloured red, with a fruity nose, rich and almost sweet, evolving towards fine ginger bread and dried fruits.

Very delicate on the palate (getting close to Burgundy again!), sweet spices, cedar wood and fresh cherries mixed up with raspberries and… a hint of lavender! Smooth tannins dressed in silk and satin and mouth-filling sweetness pillowed on crispy acidity.

A different way to experience Gigondas, created by two passionate winegrowers.

By his association with Rémy Pédréno from Roc d’Anglade, Yves Gras is looking for a different, unusual expression of his vineyards and his terroir in Gigondas.

Rigorous grape selection by Yves and Rémy’s accurate wine making raise this southern Rhone wine to an almost unexpected finesse, minerality and freshness.

Succulent, delicate and surprising… an exceptional wine!

Here you have an excellent example for the fine wines that could reveal the vintage 2008 in the Rhone Valley.

The wine is dark coloured with purple sparks. A little shy, the first nose offers aromas of blackcurrant, laurel and black pepper – a lot of pepper. After short breathing, the bouquet opens on wild strawberries, freshly cut herbs and a hint of eucalyptus.

The wine is soft and smooth on the palate, with few but serious tannins. A straight and fresh acidity adds some firmness and gives a lot of length to the final.

According to Robert Parker, this wine offers beautiful notes of kirsch liqueur, liquorice, spice box, roasted Provencal herbs, and a hint of lavender in its explosive aromatics. The wine possesses terrific purity and density as well as the succulence, fleshiness, charm, and sensuality of a beautiful dry red wine from Provence. Consume it over the next 3-4 years. (…) This vineyard, located near the old Roman village of Vaison-La-Romaine, may have produced as good a vintage in 2008 as it did in 2007." (06/09)

“Some of my best Syrah grapes ripen in Vaison la Romaine”, says Yves Gras. In the Clos Chante Duc, some 350 meters above sea level, he works the vineyards of Walter and Patricia Wells, a famous restaurant critic and food journalist who inter alia writes for the Washington Post and the NY Times, since 2007.

Some old Grenache, a little Mourvèdre and about a third of Syrah are the foundations of this fine and elegant Côtes du Rhône. After fermenting in modern concrete tanks, the wine ages in oak for 12 to 18 months.

Like every year, Robert Parkers has visited the Domaine Santa Duc at the end of august, to taste the wines of the last two vintages. An occasion for Yves to review 2008, a vintage that has been hastily denounced by the press. Although the biggest default of this year simply might be its position between 2007 and 2009.

“Monsieur Parker”, I’ve told him,” 2008 is good! Some people did a great job…”

A reminder: Springtime in the Rhone Valley first was dominated by cool and wet conditions. Around flowering, though, weather was rather dry and warm, and after a hot and summerly month of July it turned cool again in August. Frequent rainfalls allowed slow and regular ripening of the grapes. Some heavy local thunderstorms at the end of summer caused some damage on tender grape varieties, such as Syrah or Cinsault.

"Watch out, as the 2008 vintage might bewitch you, even if it looked like the weather conditions would condemn the harvest in advance: a difficult, cool year, sometimes even with hail and heavy rain storms. (…)
Positive effects of those climatic variations were concentrated juices due to low yields, interesting acidities preserved by low temperatures. Fresh northern mistral winds also led to well adjusted alcohol contents because of the slow ripening of the grapes. (…)" Antoine Gebelle and Roberto Petronio wrote those words in the renowned Revue du Vin de France June 2009. And a lot of wines from 2008 nowadays confirm their judgement.

“Concentrations were not sufficient for the Grand Grenache”, Yves explains,”but I made a Haut Garrigues this year, and it was a very good wine. However, the press did not support the 2008 vintage and one may call it “autodestructif” to edit a grand cuvee under this circumstances. I like the wines of 2008 very much. They are well balanced and fresh but also show maturity and power. Just taste it, and you will find quit a lot of wine in your glass."

Well, you got the message, best you taste the wines of 2008 yourself and judge them. Like every year, it is a question of taste.
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After searching for several years, Santa Duc has acquired a vineyard in Chateauneuf. Situated in the Saintes Vièrges, the 1,2 hectares had been planted with Grenache about 40 years ago.

Several week plants have been replaced by Counoise and Mourvèdre this spring. During a first tasting in the beginning of September, the grapes showed the fresh acididity and fine tannins typical for sandy and stony terroirs. Picking was done on Saturday October 2^nd , with rapid onset of spontaneous fermentation.

Like you, we are curious for the first results. We will report on it…

The wine shows pleasant, shiny cherry and purple colours.

Aromas of ginger bread, cloves and cinnamon complete the odour of fresh strawberries and raspberries, whereas a hint of smoke reveals the ripening of the wine in oak barrels.

The mouth is elegant and smooth, carried by a straight acidity, fine tannins and the fullness and power one might expect from a genuine Gigondas.

A real piece of jewellery representing the delicacy of this vintage, a pleasure to be served now or worth to be kept several years in your cellar.

Tastet on September 29, 2010