2016 Vacqueyras, Garrigues, Domaine Montirius, Rhône

2016 Vacqueyras, Garrigues, Domaine Montirius, Rhône

Product: 20168006967
Prices start from £160.00 per case Buying options
2016 Vacqueyras, Garrigues, Domaine Montirius, Rhône

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Available by the case In Bond. Pricing excludes duty and VAT, which must be paid separately before delivery. Storage charges apply.
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6 x 75cl bottle
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Description

A wine of great purity and focus, with red fruits,
aniseed and hints – appropriately enough – of the
garrigue. The wine is made up of 70 percent Grenache
and 30 percent Syrah, the age of the Grenache
being at least 60-years-old. Christine describes the
fermentation process in terms of an infusion delicacy
being key and the temperature kept no higher than
28 degrees. The resulting style she describes as une
bonne amertune, the apparently bittersweet oxymoron
explained most lucidly by the wine itself. Drink
2019-2023.
Simon Field MW, Wine Buyer

wine at a glance

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Critics reviews

Wine Advocate92-94/100
The 2016 Vacqueyras Garrigues is a 70-30 blend of Grenache and Syrah from old vines grown on soils that, according to proprietor Eric Saurel, deal well with heat. Tasted from cuve, this was ripe and lush, loaded with red fruit and garrigue and showing fabulous texture and length.
Joe Czerwinski - 31/10/2017 Read more

About this WINE

Domaine Montirius

Domaine Montirius

Domaine Montirius is one of the stars of the appellation, and deservedly so, judged by the care afforded to its wines by Christine and Eric Saurel. They represent the fifth generation to work this 57 hectare domaine in the heart of Vacqueyras and their property, now farmed entirely by biodynamic principles.

Labour-intensive and rigorous, low yielding old vines on optimal soil provide the perfect raw materials, and a careful three week maceration allows the full expression of the terroir. Their patient methodology is rewarded with superb expressions of terroir, described by Christine as `vins lumineux'. Here you can find their village Vacqueyras, as well as the stunningly opulent Clos Montirius.

The Saurels are a charming and gentle couple; their wine, however, is powerful and regal. One of the rare examples where the wine’s personality does not reflect that of those who make it!

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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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