Saint Damien Gigondas Blanc Les Prés 2023

The Saurel family has farmed at Gigondas since 1821, four generations of it selling the fruit to négociants. The domaine in its present form dates from 1979, and in 1996 Joël Saurel began making the wine at the estate again. It is run today by Joël and Amie Saurel with their son Romain, a trained oenologist, who has taken charge of the winemaking.

Forty-five hectares are farmed, fifteen of them in Gigondas across the lieu-dits of Le Gravas, Pigières, La Louisiane, Les Souteyrades, La Moutte and La Tour, with the rest in Côtes du Rhône Villages Plan de Dieu at Violès and straight Côtes du Rhône in both colours. Much of the Gigondas is old vines cropped low. The vineyards have been certified organic since 2012 and production is about 5,500 dozen. The 2023 vintage was the first in which white Gigondas had appellation status.

Winemaking is unhurried and traditional. Fruit is hand-picked and de-stemmed, then fermented in large old concrete vats with a long maceration on skins, up to four weeks for the Côtes du Rhône and five to eight for the Gigondas cuvées. The Gigondas is aged twelve months in large 50-hectolitre foudres under temperature control and bottled without fining or filtration, deliberately on the young side to keep its freshness.