# Domaine Santa Duc Côtes du Rhône "Les Quatre Terres" (2024)

- **Producer:** Domaine Santa Duc
- **Colour:** red
- **Type:** still
- **Grapes:** Grenache, Syrah, Mourvèdre, Carignan, Cinsault
- **Region:** Rhône, France
- **Style:** Classic
- **Alcohol:** 14.0%
- **Average price:** €22
- **Vegan:** Yes
- **Contains sulphites:** Yes
- **When to drink:** Now or Later
- **Serving temperature:** 16–18 °C
- **Aromas & flavours:** strawberry, blackberry, orange, violet, herbaceous, black pepper, cedar

## About this wine

Domaine Santa Duc has been managed by six generations of the Gras family in the southern Rhône Valley since 1874. The estate's name pays homage to the Grand-Duc eagle owl that inhabits the nearby cliffs. Today, Benjamin Gras leads the estate with certified biodynamic practices across four distinct communes: Vacqueyras, Rasteau, Roaix, and Séguret. The name 'Les Quatre Terres' ('The Four Lands') reflects this harmonized blend of diverse terroirs, encompassing limestone-clay terraces, sandstone, and ancient alluvial soil.

## Interesting facts

- The name 'Les Quatre Terres' refers to four distinct Rhône communes: Vacqueyras, Rasteau, Roaix, and Séguret.
- The estate name celebrates the Grand-Duc eagle owl native to the local rock faces.
- The wine is aged in a combination of large oak foudres and terracotta amphorae.

## Food pairing

The structured tannins and medium-plus body of this Grenache-dominant red pair effortlessly with rich, savory meats like lamb and beef. Mediterranean herb notes in the wine mirror dish seasonings like rosemary and thyme.

## Wine making process

Grapes are hand-harvested from 40-year-old vines and undergo double sorting prior to partial destemming and gravity-fed vatting. Fermentation occurs with indigenous yeasts in temperature-controlled stainless steel vats for 20 to 30 days, utilizing gentle daily pumping over and selective punching down. Following pneumatic pressing and malolactic fermentation, the wine ages for 18 months in large 36-hectoliter Stockinger oak foudres and 8-hectoliter terracotta amphorae. It is bottled unfined and unfiltered.