2011 Vacqueyras, Cuvée Lopy, Vieilles Vignes, Domaine le Sang des Cailloux, Rhône

2011 Vacqueyras, Cuvée Lopy, Vieilles Vignes, Domaine le Sang des Cailloux, Rhône

Product: 20111145575
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2011 Vacqueyras, Cuvée Lopy, Vieilles Vignes, Domaine le Sang des Cailloux, Rhône

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Description

Serge Férigoule is a vigneron’s vigneron; hugely respected in the Rhône and, more than any other, responsible for the ascent of Vacqueyras to its current prestigious status. Beyond his trademark handlebar moustache and the poetic name of his domaine, there is no dissimulation here and a genuine love of the soil. He meets us in his customary worker’s blue overall and describes in some detail why 2011 has been a difficult vintage. It comes as some relief, thereafter, to actually taste the wines, which seem to me to be just as good as always.

Serge feels that the clue to Vacqueyras lies in finesse and that Syrah provides the answer here, rather than Mourvèdre which is very modish elsewhere. The wine is rich and savoury, with notes of violets and raspberry coulis, camphor and liquorice all dancing a very pleasing dance.

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About this WINE

Domaine le Sang des Cailloux

Domaine le Sang des Cailloux

The charismatic Serge Férigoule has, over the last two decades, done more than most to raise the profile of Vacqueyras. Located on gently ascending limestone vineyards between Vacqueyras itself and Sarrians, this evocatively named property appears, probably a little later than it ought, for the first time on our list.

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Vacqueyras

Vacqueyras

Vacqueyras was the second Côtes du Rhônes Villages to be upgraded to AOC status, after Gigondas, in 1990 and rightly so. These excellent-value wines are like turbo-charged Côtes du Rhônes: dark and rich with the classic herbs and warm peppery spice of the Southern Rhône.

Compared to neighbouring Gigondas, they are slightly more restrained and rustic – in the best sense of the word – and slightly cheaper. They are made from a little less Grenache (50 percent minimum) with the balance made up with SyrahMourvèdre and Cinsault.

You should give Vacqueyras two to three years to come round, but they can then last up to a decade. The 770 hectares of vineyards are spread across the communes of Vacqueyras and Sarrians in the foothills of the Dentelles de Montmirail and produce almost exclusively red wines. The small amount of fresh, fruity rosé is normally well worth the search, while the tiny amount of white wine is mostly not.

Recommended producers: La Bastide de St. VincentMontirius

 

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Southern Rhône Blend

Southern Rhône Blend

The vast majority of wines from the Southern Rhône are blends. There are 5 main black varieties, although others are used and the most famous wine of the region, Châteauneuf du Pape, can be made from as many as 13 different varieties. Grenache is the most important grape in the southern Rhône - it contributes alcohol, warmth and gentle juicy fruit and is an ideal base wine in the blend. Plantings of Syrah in the southern Rhône have risen dramatically in the last decade and it is an increasingly important component in blends. It rarely attains the heights that it does in the North but adds colour, backbone, tannins and soft ripe fruit to the blend.

The much-maligned Carignan has been on the retreat recently but is still included in many blends - the best old vines can add colour, body and spicy fruits. Cinsault is also backtracking but, if yields are restricted, can produce moderately well-coloured wines adding pleasant-light fruit to red and rosé blends. Finally, Mourvèdre, a grape from Bandol on the Mediterranean coast, has recently become an increasingly significant component of Southern Rhône blends - it often struggles to ripen fully but can add acidity, ripe spicy berry fruits and hints of tobacco to blends.

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