Vacqueyras- Domaine Montirius 2006

A.O.C. VACQUEYRAS MONTIRIUS "Le Clos"
La parcelle unique de 8.5 hectare de vigne située au début du plateau des Garrigues s’élève au dessus de la plaine du Comtat, avec de tous côtés sur ses pentes 11 ha de bois de chênes centenaires qui le protègent et l’isolent du reste de l’appellation.
Il y règne un micro climat et une atmosphère particulière où la pluviométrie y est plus faible qu’ailleurs.
www.montirius.com

the wine of the evening is 2006 Domaine Montirius "Le Clos." This is a wonderful wine consisting of 50% grenache and 50% syrah. it is an opaque inky purple. the nose has both red and dark fruit, with hints of fig, pepper, and smoke; the fragrance of the garrigue surrounding the vineyard is readily evident. nothing is lost on the taste as the fruits, smoke, and pepper carry through. there is a perfect balance of fruit, tannin, mineral, and alcohol as the wine finishes. this coats the mouth and lingers with a hint of spice for several minutes. it is a great wine for superbowl sunday, and should match well with the pizza and salad this evening. that said, it would be wonderful with a more complex meal of roasted meat and provencal vegetables. this is a very nice wine and one i hope to add to my cellar.

as usual, to me the mix of ripe fruit, spice, mineral and long peppery finish in this wine takes me straight away to vacqueyras. the wines of this aoc contain a lower percentage (generally) of grenache and a higher percentage of syrah, thus the pepper, spice, and smoke. when i taste these wines my mind goes directly to thoughts of rustic rural wine; to me this is a sense of wildness as compared with the more polished and refined wines of gigondas (minimum 80% grenache) and the huge polished wines of chateauneuf. i love the wines from all three aoc's, but vacqueyras always is special and seems always to identify itself.

the domaine is biodynamic and "Le Clos" is located on the plateau, on predominantly clay soil. vinification is in cement and possibly stainless steel.

shopping this wine on line would suggest that the united states importer has managed to make quite the profit. it is available in pennsylvania shops for $25.99 but can be had in europe for substantially less. even at the inflated pennsylvania price it is a bargin because it leaves many of its more distinguished and expensive neighbors in its "wake."

i strongly recommend this wine, only leave a dozen bottles for me. i will put this up against a chateauneuf or gigondas in a tasting as a great part of wine games.