Domaine Saint-Damien Gigondas Clovis Saurel 2019
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Robert
Parker -
Jeb
Dunnuck
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
Blend: 80% Grenache, 20% Mourvèdre
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Aged in demi-muids, the 2019 Gigondas Clovis Saurel is a selection of old-vine Grenache and Mourvèdre from clay soils. Compared with the other wines in the lineup, the cedar and vanilla shadings are noticeable but in other contexts wouldn't be considered obtrusive. Notes of ripe plum, black cherry, blueberry, black olive and licorice predominate. Full-bodied and velvety, this is plusher and richer on the palate than the other cuvées at Saint Damien, with a generous, lingering finish. Flat-out yummy now, it also has the potential to age well for a decade or more.
Barrel Sample: 95-97 -
Jeb Dunnuck
Gorgeous stuff, the 2019 Gigondas Clovis Saurel is reminscent of Grand Cru Red Burgundy grown in the south. A selection of older vines of Grenache and Mourvèdre, it offers an elegant, medium to full-bodied style that just glides across the palate with silky, ultra-fine tannins, and perfect balance, and while it's not massive, it builds beautifully with time in the glass and has plenty of structure and length. More red-fruited aromatically, with notes of wild strawberries, framboise, Provençal garrigue, wildflowers, and hints of white pepper, it's complex, layered, nuanced, and just a joy to drink. It's approachable today but truly needs 4-5 years of bottle age. It should drink fabulously well over the following decade.
Other Vintages
2020-
Jeb
Dunnuck
St. Damien was an early Christian saint (martyred in the year 287 A.D.), considered the patron saint of doctors. There was a chapel to his honor in the tiny hamlet of La Baumette, just outside the village of Gigondas, where Joel Saurel lives. M. Saurel’s predecessors took the name Saint Damien for the domaine.
Domaine St. Damien’s cuvées of Gigondas have become the reference for classic full-bodied yet fine Gigondas, with scores by all journalists being both consistent and high every vintage. Almost as popular as their high-scoring Giogondas cuvees, are their Côtes-du-Rhône bottlings for their intense concentration and tremendous value. Harvests are later and yields are low.
Joel’s son, Romain is becoming more and more involved in the winemaking. Their goal is to produce Gigondas expressive of terroir, tradition, length and balance—in short, the best of Gigondas.