Domaine Santa Duc is a Rhône Valley wine producer with vineyard holdings in Gigondas, Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Vacqueyras and Vaucluse, as well as several villages in the Côtes du Rhône appellation. These vineyards are devoted to the the domaine's four core grape varieties: Grenache, Mourvèdre, Syrah and Cinsaut. The domaine was founded in Gigondas in 1874, and takes its name from the the Grand-duc owl. Today, Domaine Santa Duc is farmed using organic viticultural practices in order to safeguard the domaine's unique biodiversity. The majority of the domaine's vineyards are still located in Gigondas, producing a range of cuvées. The top wine from this AOC is the Les Hautes Garrigues, sourced from a plot of old Grenache and Mourvèdre vines situated in the Hautes Garrigues. It spends approximately 18 months barrel-aging in new oak and is only produced in excellent vintage years. HARVESTING & VINIFICATION : The grapes are hand-picked into crates and sorted manually in the vineyard before a second, table sorting in the cellar. A proportion is destemmed, the quantity being determined by the nature of the vintage and the parcel, and the grapes are fed by gravity into the vats to ensure the integrity of the berries. Fermentation takes place in thermo-regulated stainless-steel vats for 20 to 30 days, with two long pumping over sessions daily. Punching down is decided after tasting. Pressed pneumatically. Malolactic fermentation in vat. The wines are clarified by settling over winter in the cellar. Barrel filling occurs in the spring. AGEING : 18 months in 36-hectoliter oak Stockinger foudres, and 8-hectoliter terracotta amphorae. Unfined and unfiltered at bottling. PERSONALITY : The Provencal translation of La Font du Pape suggests a place where water is to be found, ideal for Syrah, or rather Serines, to express their fresh crispness. Through the emblematic grapes of our region, Grenache and Syrah, this union of terroirs finds it vocation in the coherent and elegant wines that it creates.