Domaine Santa Duc, Famille Gras, Les Vielles Vignes, Cotes du Rhone

€18.99

This is a beautiful Rhone red made by a very established and well-respected domain. It's a fresh, vibrant and juicy red that has fruit at the forefront with acidity and body in perfect balance, making it very difficult to refuse! An excellent pairing for grills, cheeses and meats and hearty casseroles, it's a wine that should become a firm friend.

Organic and in bio-dynamic conversion, this is an estate that is on the cusp of being "too big" to be taken seriously.. but try the wines! They are beautiful and are all exceptionally fine with food, from this lowly Cotes du Rhone to their top-most Cru single vineyards.

What's really interesting about this wine is that it's technically a Cotes du Rhone Villages, as it comes from Gigondas, Vacqueyras, Rasteau, Seguret, and Rouaix. So what you get is excellent quality at a snip of the price. They are careful to maintain the standard though and as such, technically, reserve the right to make it from other vineyard areas that are not Village-level, so that's why they don't bother with the higher level. This mean that they have very consistent standards, and make the wine from a blend that is routinely 60% Grenache, 20% Syrah, 10% Mourvèdre, and a sort of field blend of Cinsault, Counoise and Carignan. As the domaine has vines with the average vine age of 50 years, you can imagine that there are wonderfully high-quality consistency levels, not to mention concentration.

This wine is made by fully destemming the grapes before a long, slow maceration, no oak-aging influence and is bottled without any filtration. The result is this full, fruit-focused wine with ripe, sweet cherry, prune, spice, warm-earth and wild herb flavours.

The low intervention philosophy in the winery result in a fascinating process with long gentle pump-overs, fermentation in stainless steel tanks and only a short ageing in large oak vats with no influence of wood, preserving fruit freshness and liveliness.

The age and experiences in the vineyards, which they have managed since the 19th-Century, form the wine-making and vineyard management know-how that they have accumulated;  their knowledge, wisdom and calm approach at a seemingly evolutionary pace, leads you to appreciate that their quality is not only unsurprising, but also well-set for the future.

Region: Rhone Valley

Country: France

Grape(s): Syrah, Mourvedre, Grenache, Cinsault

Style: Smooth, Organic, Full, Elegant, Complex, Broad, Biodynamic

Best food matches: Poultry, Lamb, Grills, Cheeses, Charcuterie, Casseroles, Beef

Alcohol: 14%

Why buy from us?

When you buy wine from The Allotment Wine Co. you're helping a small Irish company that in turn supports small, sustainable wine producers who grow the grapes and make amazing wines. We only work with partners who share a deep respect and connection with the land and its traditions, witnessed in a firm commitment to quality and sustainability. All of which makes for better wines.

Delivery & Returns

You'll get free delivery when you buy 12 x 75cl bottles of wine online from The Allotment, saving you €7.99.

We charge €7.99 per delivery for quantities less than that.

Our hours for processing orders are between 9am - 6pm Monday to Friday.

We pack your online wine order along the following timelines:

Wine orders for delivery in Dublin, received before 12pm on weekdays are prepared so that delivery should be expected the next working day.

Wine orders for nationwide delivery, received by 12pm on weekdays are prepared so that delivery should be expected two working days later.

Customer reviews

★★★★★
Great choice and excellent service. Received my delivery the next day.
Paul H.
★★★★★
Amazing service from the get go!
I emailed Chris looking for wine recommendations for a birthday gift. Got a really speedy, helpful reply and not only that but he hand delivered it on time to the birthday girl wishing her a happy birthday. Absolutely bowled over by the service. Cannot recommend highly enough.
Michelle McM.
★★★★★
Could not recommend The Allotment enough. The selection is fantastic and each wine that I've drank from them has been utterly phenomenal. Delivery was no hassle and I had the wine at my door in 2 days. Couldn't have asked for a better experience.
Luke B.
★★★★★
Good range of interesting wines. Good personal attention to their orders. Very customer focused. I would be happy to recommend this company to any prospective customer.
Jim D.
★★★★★
A great experience ordering from The Allotment Wine Company. A wide variety of wines to try something new and at good prices with super quick delivery! Really convenient too as opposed to trying to find parking!
N. Dowling
★★★★★
Delicious and interesting range of wines delivered promptly to my door. Not far off that lovely feeling of coming back laden from a good wine store but without any of the traffic or the worry of breaking the wine en route (very impressive travel wrap).
M. Dorman
★★★★★
Chris fields a fine range of excellent, keenly-priced wines. Orders are safely packaged and dispatched efficiently and promptly. Strongly recommended.
David M.
★★★★★
Great selection of wines, hassle free ordering, payment and delivery. Highly recommended.
Patrick H.
Hi, I'm Chris Gifford.

And you're very welcome to The Allotment Wine Co.

When you wine from me, you're supporting a small Irish business which in turn supports small, sustainable wine producers, as well as other small, dedicated Irish wine importers.

When selecting wines, I look for partners who share a deep respect and connection with the land and its traditions, witnessed in a firm commitment to quality and sustainability. All of which makes for better wines.