Domaine Saint Damien

Domaine Saint Damien

[Full-bodied and elegant — classical Gigondas]

Domaine Saint Damien covers 45 hectares across the appellations of Gigondas, Plan de Dieu, Côtes du Rhône Villages and IGP Vin de France.

The Saurel family has worked this land through five generations since 1821, and Romain has been at the helm since 2015.

The domaine took its present name in 1979, after the Christian saint Damian, in memory of a chapel long since lost.

The average age of the Gigondas vines is over seventy years, and a few parcels are more than a century old.

Chemical and synthetic fertilisers were abandoned across every plot in 1996, and organic certification followed in 2012.

Since engaging the oenologist Philippe Cambie in 1998, the estate has taken the following approach to organic viticulture.

Respect for the vine and for the soil: nothing but natural materials — sulphur, small doses of copper in the form of Bordeaux mixture, plant infusions, goat's milk and essential oils.

Cover crops are encouraged through the winter to keep the soil alive, and the only fertiliser used comes from organic farms in the Alps. After harvest, work in the cellar rests on rigorous parcel selection, either to bring out the expression of a particular terroir or to let the parcels complement one another in the blend.

Full-bodied and elegant in equal measure, these wines have made their name as classical Gigondas, and every cuvée is now scoring highly across the wine press in a remarkable run of form.