2020 Lirac, La Lorentine, Domaine de Marcoux, Rhône

2020 Lirac, La Lorentine, Domaine de Marcoux, Rhône

Product: 20201145490
Prices start from £26.50 per bottle (75cl). Buying options
2020 Lirac, La Lorentine, Domaine de Marcoux, Rhône

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Description

Turbo-charged, rustic, châteauneuf-wannabe southern red rhône, with masses of enticing rich, beefy, herby fruit.

Jane MacQuitty, The Times (November 2023)

This wonderfully appealing, organic Lirac has a fine nose of sweet, ripe raspberries and blackberries. It is enticing, juicy and pure; with a real sense of freshness to the aromas. The fruit is mouth-wateringly succulent, accompanied by a mineral freshness. Expect a top note of cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger spice – followed by a pure finish.

Drink decanted from 2022 to 2030

Catriona Felstead MW, Senior Buyer, Berry Bros. & Rudd

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Critics reviews

Jancis Robinson MW16/20

40% Mourvèdre, 40% Syrah, 20% Grenache.

Crunchy dark-red/black fruit. Juicy, plenty of precision here. Really nice aftertaste on the palate of dark fruits with a mineral thread. Oak very restrained. Exceeds my expectation of Lirac. Full. Fleshy but also lots of refinement here.

Drink 2022 - 2026

Andy Howard MW, JancisRobinson.com (March 2022)

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Jeb Dunnuck88/100

The 2020 Lirac, which is a mix of Grenache, Syrah, and Mourvèdre, is slightly deeper-hued and has medium-bodied aromas and flavours of blackberries, black raspberries, ground pepper, and violets. It shows plenty of Syrah’s character in a balanced, elegant package. It’s worth pointing out that they’ve planted more Grenache for this cuvée, so expect the blend to shift towards that variety in the future, which I think is a good thing.

Jeb Dunnuck, JebDunnuck.com (November 2021)

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About this WINE

Domaine de Marcoux

Domaine de Marcoux

Sisters Sophie and Catherine Armenier have elevated Marcoux to the very highest ranks. Today, Sophie diligently runs the winery, while her son Vincent Estevenin looks after the vineyards. Now, there are 27 hectares split into over 20 parcels: 18 hectares lie right in the heart of the prime Châteauneuf-du-Pape terroir of La Crau plateau. The remainder rest in Lirac and the other Côtes du Rhône villages. Certified as organic by Ecocert as early as 1991, this year marks four decades of rigorous organic and then biodynamic principles.

The domaine makes three main wines: a Lirac, their main Châteauneuf-du-Pape and an exceptional Châteauneuf-du-Pape Vieilles Vignes – the top cuvée from this organically certified domaine. It’s made from two parcels of outstanding, old-vine Grenache: Charbonnières, planted in 2000 and Esqueirons, planted in 1949.

The cool, freshness of the 2021 vintage really plays to Domaine de Marcoux’s stylistic strengths of purity and minerality, aided as ever by their dedication to biodynamics. Their wines are always balanced but, at 1.5% abv lower than in 2020, both the Lirac and the Châteauneuf-du-Pape are especially gorgeous this year. These wines epitomise the crunchy, deliciously fresh appeal of 2021; they are lifted, fruit-forward and fragrant, and such a delight to drink.

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Lirac

Lirac

A short hop across the river Rhône from Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Lirac was traditionally best-known for its rosés, but increasingly its approachable, full-bodied reds are taking centre stage. Less Grenache-dominated than its neighbours, the current trend for Lirac is towards a greater proportion of Syrah and Mourvèdre, which gives the wines a pleasing firmness and a rich, silky spiciness. The wines can normally be enjoyed from two years’ ageing, up to 10 in some cases.

Lirac’s full, fragrant, food-friendly whites are surprisingly good, containing a minimum of one-third Clairette with the rest made up from Bourbolenc, Grenache Blanc and up to 25 percent each (but no more than 30 percent in total) of Marsanne, Roussanne, Viognier, Ugni Blanc and Picpoul. They are best enjoyed in their youth but can last for up to five years.

Rosé production is declining here, which is a shame as the rosés are good value with a lovely, dry, full-bodied summer fruit palate that is zingier than either neighbouring Tavel (which they resemble) or Provence.

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Syrah/Shiraz

Syrah/Shiraz

A noble black grape variety grown particularly in the Northern Rhône where it produces the great red wines of Hermitage, Cote Rôtie and Cornas, and in Australia where it produces wines of startling depth and intensity. Reasonably low yields are a crucial factor for quality as is picking at optimum ripeness. Its heartland, Hermitage and Côte Rôtie, consists of 270 hectares of steeply terraced vineyards producing wines that brim with pepper, spices, tar and black treacle when young. After 5-10 years they become smooth and velvety with pronounced fruit characteristics of damsons, raspberries, blackcurrants and loganberries.

It is now grown extensively in the Southern Rhône where it is blended with Grenache and Mourvèdre to produce the great red wines of Châteauneuf du Pape and Gigondas amongst others. Its spiritual home in Australia is the Barossa Valley, where there are plantings dating as far back as 1860. Australian Shiraz tends to be sweeter than its Northern Rhône counterpart and the best examples are redolent of new leather, dark chocolate, liquorice, and prunes and display a blackcurrant lusciousness.

South African producers such as Eben Sadie are now producing world- class Shiraz wines that represent astonishing value for money.

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