2022 Domaine Santa Duc Gigondas Clos des Hospices

Made from 100% Grenache, this wine doesn't just walk the line between power and finesse—it carves it with intent. The nose hits with a tight, complex weave of red cherry, rhubarb, pomegranate, violet, and wild thyme—both inviting and serious. The palate is taut and fresh, where white pepper and crushed stone thread through the fruit like static, adding grit to the gloss. Fine tannins wrap around the red core, giving it a kind of poised tension, while that marl-soil edge brings a mineral clarity that keeps things lifted and connected to its terroir. It's grounded and built to hold through 2035+. Aerate now if you want a glimpse, but make sure to hold a few more in the cellar.

A new bottling, the 2022 Clos des Hospices is crafted from Grenache Noir planted in the Derrière Vieille lieu-dit, where a double grafting program with white grape varieties was implemented. It reveals a slightly reductive yet elegant bouquet of dark cherries, violet, pepper and floral notes. The medium-bodied palate is both elegant and juicy, with impressive depth at the core, a tense mid-palate and fine-grained tannins that flow into a long, ethereal finish, enhanced by chalky dry extract in the aftertaste. As one of the tensest Gigondas in Benjamin Gras’s lineup, it shows remarkable aging potential.