Cazaux Vacqueyras Blanc Vieilles Vignes 50% Clairette, 30% Roussanne and 20% Viognier

The wine has a beautiful golden color.
The aromas are rich and exotic with mango, almonds, toast, lemon, pineapple white flowers and papaye. These aromas will develop to honey, butter and pear after ageing for a few years.
The finish is long, citrusy and toasty.

Terroir: Slopes of sandy soil or grey limestone.
Yield: 25 -30 hl/ha
Age of the vines: 70 years old minimum. The oldest are around 90 years old.
The grapes are pressed pneumatically after a few hours contact with the skins.The must is kept at 20°c during the alcoholic fermentation to optimise the aromas and respect the wine’s suppleness.
Barrel fermented an aged in 228-liter French Oak barrel for 12 months with regular stirrings of the lees.
MaloLactic Fermentation also in barrel.

Enjoy this wine with rich dish, river fish or poultry cooking in creamy sauce. Delicious with a mushroom risotto.

Review:

"Limpid yellow. A wild, expansive bouquet displays an array of citrus pith and pit fruits, succulent and (once-) illicit herbs, dried flowers and honey, along with a smoky mineral flourish the emerges with air. Stains the palate with juicy pear nectar, candied fennel, chamomile and bitter quinine flavors that take a sweeter turn on the back half. The impressively long, chewy, focused finish echoes the floral note and leaves a refreshingly bitter pear skin note behind. Color me impressed. I'd love to see this wine, when it gets bottled, up against some high-end Châteauneuf-du-Pape whites. Raised in barriques. - Josh Raynolds"

- Antonio Galloni's Vinous (February 2020), 92-93 pts

HUGE SALE $80 OFF CASE PRICE

Regularly $460, now $380!

Cazaux Vacqueyras Blanc Les Clefs d'Or is made from 50% Clairette, 30% Roussanne and 20% Grenache Blanc.

A wine with lively acidity, expressive aromas of fennel and white flowers. It is long and full in the mouth with minty and anisy aromas mixed with white peach flavors. Refreshing and mineral character.

Clairette grapes are green harvested to concentrate and harmonize aroma. Each grape varietal is hand picked separately. Pressing with skin contact at low temperature. Aged 12 months in stainless steel tank. (No oak)

Enjoy this wine with all sorts of fish starters, squid salad with olive oil and basil. A must try with fresh oysters.

Review:

"The 2018 Vacqueyras Les Clefs D'Or Blanc is another head-turner. A blend of 50% Clairette, 30% Roussanne, and 20% Grenache Blanc brought up in tank, it offers a clean, vibrant style carrying classy notes of tart peach, citrus, lemongrass, and exotic herbs. Medium-bodied, balanced, and with a kiss of minerality, it’s solid today, yet I suspect it will age gracefully for 7-8 years."

- Jeb Dunnuck (September 2019, Southern Rhône Part 2: 2017 & 2018 from Gigondas, Vacqueyras, Cairanne, and Rasteau), 92 pts

Cazaux Vacqueyras Cuvee des Templiers is a  blend of 50% Syrah, 50% Grenache.

The Syrah vines are situated on the sandy, grey clay slopes of Vacqueyras near the estate. They are facing east west, so the sun warms the grapes early in the morning allowing a considerable synthesis of sugars. The sandy soil is poor giving a reduced yield. The resulting wine is very fruity with strong persistent aromas of red fruits, spices and violets brought by the Syrah. Intense black cherry, blackberry, blueberry and cherry flavors. Explosive fruit tannins give the sweet, creamy flavors structure and focus, bright and uplifting on the finish.

Enjoy this wine when young with grilled beef and bearnaise sauce, lamb and thyme. After 7-10 years excellent with game meats.

Colline Saint Jean Vacqueyras Vieilles Vignes is made from 80% Grenache and 20% Syrah.

This wine has a deep purple color, with an intense nose of ripe black fruits, plum, brandied cherries, and chocolate. In the mouth, the wine has rich flavors of black fruits. It is meaty, well-structured, and the tannins are round and elegant.

The juice is aged in concrete tanks for 18 months. The lack of oak helps to frame in the bright and defined dark berry flavors of the old vine grapes. I can not recall another red wine that displays this depth yet displays on the palate with such refreshing acidity.

Vieilles Vignes means old vines.For this specific wine, the age of the vines are comprised between 85 and 110 years old.

Traditional method. Manually picked. Harvest carefully sorted and 100% destemed. Maceration with skins during 20 days in cement vats. Large work of pump over to push the cap.

Red meat, game, white meat, poultry, dishes in sauce, cheese, chocolate dessert.

Colline Saint Jean Vacqueyras Vieilles Vignes is made from 80% Grenache and 20% Syrah.

This wine has a deep purple color, with an intense nose of ripe black fruits, plum, brandied cherries, and chocolate. In the mouth, the wine has rich flavors of black fruits. It is meaty, well-structured, and the tannins are round and elegant.

The juice is aged in concrete tanks for 18 months. The lack of oak helps to frame in the bright and defined dark berry flavors of the old vine grapes. I can not recall another red wine that displays this depth yet displays on the palate with such refreshing acidity.

Vieilles Vignes means old vines.For this specific wine, the age of the vines are comprised between 85 and 110 years old.

Traditional method. Manually picked. Harvest carefully sorted and 100% destemed. Maceration with skins during 20 days in cement vats. Large work of pump over to push the cap.

Red meat, game, white meat, poultry, dishes in sauce, cheese, chocolate dessert.

These are Magnum bottles!

Grand Veneur Chateauneuf Du Pape Vieilles Vignes is made from 50% Grenache, 40% Mourvedre, 10% Syrah

Matured in concrete vats (40%) and oak casks (60%)

It boasts an inky/purple color in addition to a gorgeous perfume of crushed rocks, jammy black fruits, charcoal and graphite. Blackberry aroma with an air of dates pressed in alongside – this is sweet-noted. It is easy to appreciate, a sleek and stylish start. The palate holds excellent fruit that runs well and has kick. Its tannins move round freely and a minted finale comes forward. Its dark fruit is tasty, darkens on the finish, where tar and char from its oak enter. It is all very much together, a bundle of harmony, and will gain local attributes as it ages.
An outstanding Chateauneuf du Pape which display the best of its terroir.

The vines are 50 to 100+ year old. They are planted on red clay soils covered with pebble stones.

Harvest is destemmed and crushed. Fermentation temperature is controlled at 30°C. Vatting period of 18 to 20 days. Matured in concrete vats (40%) and oak casks (60%).

The vineyards are located in the north of Châteauneuf du Pape. GRAND VENEUR «Vieilles Vignes» cuvee is produced from the older vines. Thanks to time and an organic growing, roots go very deep in the soil. Yields are naturally low and grapes highly concentrated.
The vines are 50 to 100+ year old. They are planted on red clay soils covered with pebble stones.

Winemaking and aging
Harvest is destemmed and crushed. Fermentation temperature is controlled at 30°C. Vatting period of 18 to 20 days. Matured in concrete vats (40%) and oak casks (60%).

Pair with venisson, duck, braised lamb or strong cheese.

Review:

"Lastly, the 2019 Châteauneuf Du Pape Vieilles Vignes is more classic, with a fresh, vibrant, full-bodied style that carries seriously dense black and blue fruits, graphite, scorched earth, and peppery garrigue like aromas and flavors. Rich, powerful, and with plenty of structure, it’s going to need bottle age but is certainly a tremendous wine in the making. The blend is 45% each of Grenache and Mourvèdre, with 10% Syrah, that was vinified in stainless steel and aged in 55% new barrels and the balance in concrete tanks."

- Jeb Dunnuck (October 2020),96-99 pts