Description
80% Grenache, 20% Syrah growing in two lieux-dits, La Ponche and Les Aubes. Les Aubes sits on sandy slopes while La Ponche is lower lying and the vines grow on clay and limestone. Les Aubes brings finesse, La Ponche is more powerful and dense. The 2018 was aged for 18 months in 90% Stockinger Foudres and 10% Terracotta Amphora. Benjamin and Yves have excelled themselves here, combining ripe, pure fruit with elegant layered tannins and super freshness, not a hint of dried fruit, really vibrant and long.
About the Domaine
The Gras family have been making wine in Gigondas since at least the 1870s, today the winery is still on the same site. The modern era here really begins in 1985 when Yves took over his family domaine. His first move was to begin the conversion to organic viticulture, one of the earliest domaines in the village to do so. Yves understood that this was the best way to emphasise his beloved terroir and let it speak clearly. He gained plaudits internationally for his wines which, in the words of Robert Parker, “combined the muscle, richness and fire of a classic Gigondas with a degree of elegance and purity that many wines of this appellation lack.” Yves son Benjamin joined the domaine and is now very much driving things forward, he has been responsible for the conversion to biodynamics and the further emphasis on single vineyard wines. like his father he believes in minimal intervention, low yields, old vines and working with precision and vigour.
The wines have never been better, from the everyday wine Les Plans to the single site Chateauneuf and Gigondas, every bottle delivers quality and excitement, pure fruit and depth.
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