"80% Grenache 20% Mourvedre. Aged in oak foudres for a minimum of six months. Smoky notes on the nose with a really creamy texture. So long! This is lovely.
91 Points, Robert Parker: "The superb, deep plum/ruby/purple-tinged 2010 Gigondas Vieilles Vignes is composed of 80% Grenache and 20% Mourvedre aged in both concrete and foudre. Aromas of blueberries, black raspberries and spring flowers along with a chalky minerality emerge from this full-bodied, dense, pure, elegant as well as substantial 2010. Enjoy it over the next decade.
One of my favorite Gigondas estates is proprietor Joel Saurel’s Saint-Damien (now one of the appellation’s superstars). Saurel also produces several Cotes du Rhone cuvees that are nearly as good as his superb Gigondas. The 2011 Cotes du Rhones, which were bottled early to preserve their fruit, are about as good as Cotes du Rhone can be in this vintage. The 2010s are close in quality although not quite at the level of the finest vintage I have ever tasted from Saurel, his 2007s.""
Domaine St.-Damien is one of the Gigondas estates that draw fruit more from the vineyards on the plateau than from those on the chalky hillsides. The house style includes rich, black fruit character, with exotic smoke and black tea notes, derived from the richer clay and limestone soils on the plateau that spreads west and southwest from the Dentelles. Joël, 52, and his wife, Amie, 55, represent the fourth generation of Saurels (they are cousins of the Saurels at Montirius) to farm vineyards in Gigondas; previous generations sold the fruit to négociants. There are now 42 acres of vines, nearly 30 in Gigondas.
The wines are destemmed 70 percent and fermented in cement vat. The Gigondas Vieilles Vignes is sourced from the estate’s 'young' vines (they’re over 40 years old!) in the Souteyrades parcel, which features clay and limestone soils.
