2016 Vacqueyras Vieilles Vignes
Estimated value
Buying options
Tasting notes
Youthful violet. Ripe cherries and dark berries on the deeply perfumed nose. Shows impressive power and depth on the palate, offering ripe blackberry and candied cherry flavors complicated by hints of candied lavender and licorice. The smooth, youthfully tannic, smoke-tinged finish delivers solid punch and leaves sappy cherry and floral notes behind.
Critic scores
Average Score
Jancis Robinson MW
Jancis Robinson MW
More reviews and scores
A step ahead of the Rasteau, the 2016 Vacqueyras Vieilles Vignes shows genuine local character in its notes of raspberry-like Grenache fruit and garrigue shadings. It's full-bodied, plush and long on the palate, with ample concentration and less overt oak than expected. It's 70% Grenache, with the balance split between Mourvèdre and Syrah. Half of the fruit was vinified whole cluster and aged in concrete, the other half was destemmed and aged in barrel.
Raspberries and plums with darker-fruit nuances. Fine, chalky tannins carry freshness and plenty of flavor. This has attractive, pared-back purity. Drink or hold.
Lastly, the 2016 Vacqueyras Vieilles Vignes is a charmer that offers loads of fruit and texture, in a more forward, gulpable, balanced style. Plums, crushed rocks, violets, and pepper all emerge from the glass and it has medium to full-bodied richness, fine tannin and notable purity. It will drink nicely right out of the gate. I tasted six whites from Tardieu-Laurent, all of which were noteworthy, and this estate’s relatively modern, yet clean, pure style always produced a terrific white I’d be happy to drink.