Santa Duc's wines may lean toward the more modernist camp, but, based on this CdR Villages, they have not forgotten their roots. Very ripe black fruits, spice, herbs, pepper, firm but softening tannin, perfect acidity....this wine is lovely. All that one could hope for in a southern Rhone red...and more for $17 on sale. Going back for more. Tasted Sep 2016.

This is a big CdR Villages, offering almost as much as good Chateauneuf but at half the price. Cherry, plum, blueberry, licorice, herbs/garrique. There's still some freshness in the fruit, but it's turning to dry and cooked. The palate is full, hot with balancing acidity, grainy tannin and a drying bitter finish. A big 15% ABV, and the alcohol is not totally integrated with some burn on the mid to late palate. Drink now to 2019. Jan. 2017.

This Grenache-Syrah blend (80/20) just screams southern Rhône, with its bretty, animal funk floating atop dense dark baked and stewed fruit (berries, cherries, figs), pepper, roasted meat, and earth. It's actually remarkably dense, with deep, concentrated flavours swimming in a thick, grainy, rustic texture. For the price, this is even more remarkable, but really, for all that character, this is a wine lacking finesse and balance, and at this point in its evolution also acidic freshness, and while the fruit ends up collapsing into a puddle, what's left is mostly that excessive bretty cover.