K&L
Btw it does gain some weight on day two.
To be honest it is really hard to say whether there are new vintages coming as this wine is a relative unicorn so very little info available. However I bought a pristine bottle of the 2003 last summer in France and according to the retailer he had just received the shipment from the winery.
I have no idea how easy it is to find but locally bought a 2010 Roucas Toumba Vacqueras. I know next to nothing about vacqueras or this producer. Bought on a salesmans advice. It was on closeout for $23 w no tax. A tremendous value interesting fruit profile if not super complicated. Different than my typical reds as it was far form a monster, just yummy stuff that can please both wines geeks and non geeks alike. At this tariff I do find equal value wines but usually its from one of my mailing lists. Not a talented wine scorer but if I was grading, an easy 90+
AFAIC Chateau (Domaine) des Tours did make a few vintages of pure Merlot - and also a Merlot/Syrah-blend - but I havenÂŽt seen more than 1998 and 2003.
Usually the Merlot is included in the VdP Domaine des Tours âŠ
Last released vintage was 2014, but the 2015 should be coming soon (or has already been released)
Sang des Cailloux is one standout name in that AOC. I find the wines from that village though donât seem to last that long. 2007 feels tired already, atypical year for sure, but that seems to be my overall experience.
Unfortunately, over a couple of hot afternoons the 2010 Xavier Vins [Vacqueyras] is hard to recommend as a good example of the AOC â I was dissatisfied. The last example I had was a 2007 at age 10, so perhaps itâs age, or my tastes changing, but I find this 14.5% abv example to be heavy, cloying, with a one dimensional feel, despite adequate aging. This negociant bottling was obtained a few years after release - a red French tax stamped example brought over by JJB - and cellared properly since so I donât think the âmehâ showing is a storage issue. This purplish blend tails off on day 2 and for a fine overall vintage like 2010 there is little aromatic bouquet, but some bramble, blackberry and coffee on the palate. Otherwise it shows light sediment, resolved tannin, and low acid. The cepage - 50% syrah, 30% grenache, 10% mourvedre, 10% cinsault - is not the typical blend for a southern Rhone red AOC and perhaps thatâs my subconcious grievance. Iâd rate this a B on day 1, notching down to a B- on day 2.
I have not purchased recent vintages, and perhaps Iâm not the only recalcitrant, as I saw in recent years many of their bottlings were pushed out to the old de Negoce mailing list, which may not be so Francophile. Hopefully those buyers will drink their Xavier young and enjoy them more than me.
@Kris_Patten - CT shows a few bottles of 2015 and 2016 Domaine des Tours Vaucluse Merlot Reserve, and an IG account I follow posted a few bottle shots of the 2016 Merlot in their Story a week or so agoâŠ
Second Sang des Caillou - the 1998 is drinking well now. I also enjoy the Rose and White from Domaine Les Clos du Caveau. I have several of their 2015-2018 reds as well, but at this point, they still need more time.
Reg. Ch.des Tours most or all of 2014 Vacqueyras is bottled as Cotes-du-Rhone Grand Reserve - and probably 2015 will be, too.
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Sure they still make both Merlot and Merlot/Syrah, only they release them even later than Rayas. I got a bottle of the 2006 last year, which was very good.
Regarding the Vacqueyras, I had stopped buying them as they were priced twice as much as the regular CdR, and I always felt the alcohol was not well integrated. But Iâve had a few ârecentâ (2011/12/13) vintages and all bottles were great and open for business.
I also had a 2007 recently that was stunning. And I had just written it off thinking it would never mellow out and find balance. A 2007 of all vintages⊠2009 and 10 still need time.
Edit: as for the whites, they need even more time than the reds. I would not open anything after 2009.
Alain
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The des Tours Vacqueyras is a nice wine, but I prefer the regular CĂŽtes du RhĂŽne which is a bit more robust in my experience.
Iâll second the recommendation for Sang des Cailloux which is also nice.
Lots of mention of Sang des Cailloux on this thread - including by myself - but I donât think it can keep all that much better than other good vintners. Iâve had the 90 (in mag), 95, and most of that fine cluster between 98-01 and they all seemed to fade around a decade or so. Sure they were starting off at a higher level than others, but I would not ascribe Gigondas or CNDP lifelines to this AOC.
Does anyone have info on why some are now labelled Grand Reserve now?
Itâs not always the case, only when it gets refused by the AOC committee for not being Vacqueyras-y enough⊠in which case thereâs the Grande RĂ©serve across the label.
On a side note, the CdR is actually within the Vacqueyras appellation, only E. Reynaud prefers to bottle it as CdR.
Alain
For the 2013, I was told at the domaine that they chose to de-classify the Vacqueyras because they werenât satisfied with the quality of the grapes so they made a CDR Grande reserve with the grapes. Does anyone know of another vintage with this cuvĂ©e?
The 2013 Vacqueyras exists and itâs fine so they canât have declassified everything.
Somehow doesnât meet the criteria for Vacqueyras (?) - it happened already in the past ( at least 1998)
It might have been the 2014 vintage (whatever was on release last fall). Or they might have kept back some labelled Vacqueyras for valued customers and I am not sufficiently valued. At any rate, I am repeating what they told me.
I bought their 1998 Vacqueyras on release in the US (back then, it was like $20). Many years later the domaine sold some as a kind of library release. It certainly exists. What, besides the AOC rules, are the criteria for Vacqueras that either vintage did not meet?
2014 is indeed labeled as CDR reserve