Winemaker Notes
The nose reveals lively balsamic notes, dark berries, fresh laurel, and black olives. The structure is round and generous with a long voluptuous finish.
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
The 2019 Vacqueyras Cuvée Spéciale comes from a single vineyard (the lieu-dit is Cabane) and offers a bigger, broader, richer style. Ground pepper, cured meats, chocolate, and garrigue notes all define this ruby-hued beauty, and it has ripe tannins, a round, expansive mouthfeel, and a great finish. It’s up with the top wines in the appellation.
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Wine Spectator
This entices with rose petal and wild strawberry interwoven with generous spicy black pepper and cast iron notes. Dark and sturdy on the palate, with salty minerality as well as good tension and length, with formidable tannic structure. Grenache and Syrah.
With bold fruit flavors and accents of sweet spice, Grenache, Syrah and Mourvèdre form the base of the classic Rhône Red Blend, while Carignan, Cinsault and Counoise often come in to play. Though they originated from France’s southern Rhône Valley, with some creative interpretation, Rhône blends have also become popular in other countries. Somm Secret—Putting their own local spin on the Rhône Red Blend, those from Priorat often include Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon. In California, it is not uncommon to see Petite Sirah make an appearance.
This charming appellation within the Côtes du Rhône Villages was second only to Gigondas to earn its own village appellation status. Its wines may be red, rosé or white—though hardly any is white. Its high winemaking standards follow many of the same rules as Chateauneuf-du-Pape. But for Vacqueyras red wines, half of the grapes have to be Grenache and the remainder is usually a combination of Syrah, Mourvedre and Cinsault.
While they can be robust and rustic in style, typically a great Vacqueyras red combines delicate aromas with intense fruit and a bright, crisp texture. They certainly don’t lack any character and show an abundance of black cherry, wild berry, plum, fig, baking spice, and a touch of game or smoke.