LVT 2017 r 2015 wh 2015 rosé Large Cave Co-operative that has turned out robust wines over the years, in the middle league. Belts were tightened with the departure of their talenetd openologue in 2015, not replaced. In 2015, cost cutting led to a fusion (Ortas the senior partner) with the Cave les Coteaux de Visan, called Cercle des Vignerons du Rhône. In January 2017, the Cave le Gravillas de Sablet was also entered into this structure. The Les Viguiers range of Côtes du Rhônes - red, white and rosé- is good value, and reliable.

LVT 2017 r 2015 wh Manly, full Rasteau wines, consistent quality at the top end. The Rasteau Bastide Saint Martin is based on 1930s-1960s Grenache (45-50%) and 1960s Syrah (1960s), and performed well in 2017, a **** wine for that vintage. There is an attractive Côtes du Rhône Villages Élégance white - ***(*) in 2013, 2014 and 2015, and an easy drinking Cairanne red as well, recently added, steel vat raised. This is a name to watch.

LVT 2015 r 2014 wh  Good, traditional wines. For over 40 years have produced a Rasteau Vin Doux Naturel with very long cask ageing, the Rasteau Rancio. The son Paul-Émile arrived at the domaine in 2012 after working at Pierre Amadieu in Gigondas for 5 years and also 2 years at Château de Vaudieu at Châteauneuf-du-Pape. Expect an uplift in quality and fruit.

LVT 2015 r  2014 VDN  Good recent own domaine name at Rasteau, an ex-Co-operateur whose father has been Mayor of Rasteau for 18 years. 1st bottling 2003. There are good local qualities in quite robust wines. Pre-bottling, the 2015 Rasteau Tradition red is ****(*), STGT wine. The 2014 Rasteau Cuvée Aimé red, based on 1915 Grenache, was a stylish **** wine. The Rasteau Vin Doux Naturel rose is good.

LVT 2017 r One of the best, most consistent addresses at Rasteau, with old vines in lovely blue clay soils. Modern, smoothly fruited Rasteau, the top wine has been overtly oaked in the past, but that has eased in the mid-2010s

LVT  2017 r  A domaine created in June 2013; named after their grandfather, who was from Cremona in Italy. There are 11 hectares at Rasteau, 7.2 hectares at Cairanne, and 1 hectare at Sainte-Cécile-les-Vignes. The first Cairanne and Rasteau are both good.

LVT 2015 r  Recent bottler of their wine. The Liautauds also do bed and breakfast, with two rooms and have a swimming pool for their clients. The wines are traditional, modest.

LVT 2009 r  2007 VDN  Since 2009 also make Séguret Côtes du Rhône Villages. Traditional styled wines, sound heart

LVT 2017 r 2011 wh 2008 rosé Patrice left the Cave de Rasteau in 2002, but still sends some crop there. Promising, good, steady quality. Excellent Rasteau Vin Doux Naturel.

LVT 2017 r 2016 wh 2011 VDN 2015 rosé VDN 2011 ambré  Unpretentious, grass roots quality; style has moved from robust to more abundant, smooth and gourmand since change of oenologue to Philippe Cambie after 2008. The fruit holds commendable purity. The wines still have local character. They are organic and biodynamic. There are now several Rasteau reds, La Mondona being the main flag bearer. the 2016 a **** STGT wine. The 80% 1930s Grenache, 20% 1940 Carignan Rasteau Lou Montel red, first made in 2015, was a ****(*) wine in 2016.

More of the wine is bottled than in the past, with around 30% of La Mondona previously sold in bulk. The Cairanne, now called Terra Rosea, was a w.o.w. ***(*) wine in 2016, while the 2015 Côtes du Rhône Cuvée Char à Vin red was a **** w.o.w. wine, and the very small production Rasteau Vin Doux Naturel Ambré Hors d’age red was a marvellous ****(*) wine in 2009, expressive and deep from that sun-filled vintage, with the 2011 a **** wine of good character: it's well worth seeking out

LVT 2017 r 2014 wh 2014 rosé 2014 VDN  Reds have more style than previously, are very good now. Sound whites, and a name in the leading ranks of Rasteau, including the Grenache Vin Doux Naturel. The old vine Rasteau Héritage 1924 red, which I have very highly rated in the past, has been straightforward and therefore a bit disappointing in 2015 and 2017. From 2017 there has been a new, sleek Rasteau red called Argilla Ad Argillam, amphore raised, the 2017 a **** wine. Gilles Ferran also makes a wine called Calendal with oenologue Philippe Cambie. The 2015 Cairanne Le Ventabren red was a **** wine when tasted pre-bottling.

LVT 2015 r A domaine with high vineyards and a priceless 2 hectares of 1914 Grenache in front of the cellars - the base of the Vieilles Vignes wine. Robust, genuine wines that need bottle ageing. After 35 years, Paul and Elisabeth Joyet handed over to their daughter Françoise, and her American husband Jon Larum in 2018; they had lived and worked in California for the previous ten years. Only a restricted amount is bottled, with that side being developed. There are now two new cuvées, Bienveillante and Gracieuse, the former a 60% Grenache, 40% Syrah wine (the 2014 ****), the latter 50% Grenache, 30% Mourvèdre, 20% Syrah (2014 ***(*) wine) 

LVT 2015 wh 2014 r  Traditional approach. Pierre Meyer started on the domaine in 1984, three years after it was established. He had been a Co-operateur. His daughter Céline has done a wine masters in Geneva. Half the wine is sold in bulk to Chapoutier (Rasteau) and Guigal (Côtes du Rhône).

LVT 2015 r 2011 rosé 2011 wh  Good, solid quality; wines that are well made; the Parpaiouns is from old Grenache, has local feel, while the Prestige is given oaking in used 600-litre casks.

LVT 2017 r 2017 wh 2015 VDN Helen Durand has undergone a conversion, one that I hoped would happen. He has renounced extraction, and has backed off high temperature, high intervention winemaking. Raising time has been cut to 10 months from double that, and since 2007 he has sought greater freshness in his wines. They are now interesting, free, on mineral influences. This is now a good, hand made range of organic, biodynamic wines.

The Rasteau red that used to be called Tradition is now called Les Cras, and the 2016 was a real winner, a ****(*) wine of character and nuance. In 2017 Helen started raising 20% of his top Rasteau, Les Adrès, in amphorae [more oxygen] to further increase length and profundity. The 2010 Vin Doux Naturel grenat is superb, also the 2014, a wonderful ***** wine, and the 2015, a ****(*) wine, top of the class. Two STGT wines to signal are the **** 2015 Rasteau Les Adrès, a child of its clays, and the **** 2016 Côtes du Rhône red that comes from some of the lime soils at Rasteau, and is well in line with them. The Roaix Villages red is also authentic, the **** 2017 a wine of elegant gras.

LVT 2014 r These are good, easy to drink wines, delivered in soft, floral-scented style. It is the only Rasteau like this, generated by harvesting very ripe crop, then a low temperature maceration to secure soft tannins. It is is put on the market early. In her 20s, Elodie is a cousin of Robert Charavin and of the Durand family at Domaine du Trapadis, while Corinne Couturier is the first cousin of her mother. Quite a local pedigree, therefore. Topped up by which, she spent time as a student at Domaine Marcel Richaud. Elodie's father is a Co-operateur at both the Roaix and the Rasteau Co-operatives.

LVT 2017 r 2017 wh 2010 rosé 2006 VDN This is a remarkable, out of the loop 15 hectare estate with an extremely passionate owner. It was created in 1996 when Jerome was 23 years old, his father a Co-operateur at Rasteau. Since 1988-89 Jerome insisted on it being an organic domaine, and since 2008 it is biodynamic. Yields have always been tiny – 10-15 hl/ha. Jérôme does not work with an oenologue.

These are very precise wines, some STGT qualities, too; they come from a patchwork of leading sites at Rasteau, with blue and yellow marl soils, clay and stones mixed in. The Grenache and Carignan feature post Word War One vines. Harvesting is later ["later and later, since that encourages more aromatic subtleties"] than in the past, the 2014 into November. Whole bunch percentages on the red vary between 50% and 80%.

The IGP red wine is a very accurate measure of the vintage, so the 2014 was cool, direct, interesting, the 2016 leaning towards North Africa and the Mediterranean, eking out its thick juice with resistance. The 2017 had still not finished 45 gm of sugar in March, 2019.  

The wines are expensive, high quality, and no longer part of the Rasteau appellation because the authorities expect him to drop grape varieties that do not fit their dossier of approved vines. 

The IGP white is composed of nine different varieties that include 1930s Grenache blanc, also Grenache gris, all three Northern Rhône varieties, and 1980s Picpoul. It can ferment for eighteen months, and needs time to get together, then open, so Jérôme recommends drinking at seven years with truffle dishes. The white is mostly on limestone, and has been increased from one to three hectares.

There are just two vintages of Vin Doux Naturel, the ****(*) 2004 and ***** 2006.

The picture features Jérôme with wine list legend and truffle fiend Guy Jullien of the Restaurant Beaugravière at Mondragon

LVT 2017 r  Good, genuine, hearty wines with some local imprint. They are in the front rank at Rasteau, and benefit from bottle ageing. The Rasteau Vieilles Vignes is bold, and often STGT, as it was in 2016, 2013, 2007 and 2006. The Côtes du Rhône red is VALUE, a wine of real consequence, and STGT in 2014; both the 2015 and 2016 were **** wines

LVT 2017 r  NV Vin Doux Naturel  Hearty, honest Rasteau reds, both the Archange and Héritage were **** wines in 2015, pre-bottling, the Héritage also hitting **** in 2017, up for stews and country dishes

LVT 2017 r 2017 wh Early 2000s set-up at Rasteau. Powerful style of wines. After renting space from La Soumade from 2003, Georges Perrot has his own operation. He started with 5 hectares of rented vineyards. The original 1 hectare was enlarged to 20 hectares in 2009 thanks to his father-in-law Michel Bommenel, the President of the Cave de Rasteau. Philippe Cambie is the consultant oenologue.

Georges Perrot did a variety of jobs in his twenties – boilermaking, hairdressing, swimming pool attendant, the hospital at Valréas. He stays a little apart from the main Rasteau stream. There are now three Rasteau reds, one from blue and yellow clays, based on 1950s Grenache, the Esprit d’Argiles ***(*) in 2014, the La Fontaine, based on 1950s Grenache from blue clays, *** in 2014 and ***(*) in 2015, and the Les Touillères, 70% Grenache and 30% Syrah, a regular *** wine in 2014 and 2015. His Grenat Vin Doux Naturel Rasteau is very good, since it is pure and crystalline in a vintage such as 2015, a wine of poise and authority, ****. The Côtes du Rhône white is well made, the 2017 a fine and genuine ***(*) wine

LVT 2017  Julie's father Jean-Claude ran the Cave de Rasteau for ten years until his untimely death, whereupon she returned to Rasteau. Julie worked in Bordeaux, then as a sommelière in Australia. The first vintage bottled was 2015. The 12 hectares owned at Rasteau come under the Luminaille name, with most sold as crop so far. The remaining 5 hectares of rented vineyards give crop for the Cave de Rasteau, Ortas. The vineyards are under the care of her friend Nicolas Bres, who previously worked at the Domaine de Pisan, part of the Cave de Rasteau until its sell-off. The two Rasteau reds have been renamed Garance (60% Grenache) and Luminaris (40% Grenache), the latter an authentic ***(*) wine in 2017

LVT 2017 r Leading name at Rasteau. André Romero has never been a man for a quiet life, and over the decades has frequently changed his vinification as he has sought styles of the time. After a strong extraction phase in the 1990s, he finally settled down since 2002 in the company of more finesse, albeit at high degree, under the eye of his advisor, Bordeaux-based Stéphane Derenoncourt, one of the best Bordeaux exports. Son Fréderic is continuing with the sleek, polished style of wines, which carry commendable elegance. The 2017 range of four Rasteau reds ran between ***(*) and ****(*). The 2015 Gigondas was a bold wine of genuine heart, a ****(*) success.

LVT  2017  r  Organic wines, with massale selction of the vines. Mikaël’s 2 hectares stem in part from his grandparents, in part from his great uncle. His father was an agriculteur (as opposed to a viticulteur) at Rasteau, and worked at the Cave de Rasteau, before finishing his career at the Domaine de la Girardière. It was his uncle who worked the family vineyard.

Mikaël worked as a mechanic before starting at 20 working in southern Rhône vineyards. He then studied viticulture at Carpentras before moving on to the organic Domaine Jean David at Séguret, which stimulated the urge for him to make wine. When his uncle retired in 2008, Mikaël worked two hectares from his parents, and after he left the Cave de Rasteau in 2010, his first wine was made in 2011. In those days his other job was the number 2 in charge of the vineyards at Domaine de la Vieille Julienne at Châteauneuf-du-Pape, while since 2012 he has been maître de chai at the organic Clos de Caveau at Vacqueyras.

Quality took a big leap forward from the 2013 vintage, which was vinified in his own premises near the ramparts of Rasteau – the wines are much fresher, more detailed. The 2013 was STGT Rasteau, a ***(*) wine

LVT 2016 r Ex Domaine Emile Charavin, now the sixth generation in charge, brother and sister. Emile died, aged 97, in 2011, some innings. Olives, pigs, before wine here - polyculture. Réjane & brother Wilfried's great grandfather Théophile moved the domaine to more purely wine in the 1930s, while their grandfather bottled for the first time as far back as 1952. They have been organic since 2012. Hearty Rasteau wines, a bit on the wild side, while the 2016 Cairanne red engaged well, came with style, a ****(*) wine. Sinmce 2015 there has been a second, small production, low SO2 Rasteau called Septentrion; it has a naked style. Quite a lot of the wine is sold in bulk, or harvest, in the case of the Cairanne.

LVT 2017 r The owners of a Côtes de Bordeaux, Château de Pic, where they owned 40 hectares, and rented 20 a further 20. They sold up in 2013. The Toque Rouge refers to the jockey’s red cap of their horseracing colours, having raced flat horses at Pau in S-W France. François, an oenologue, grew up in Mollans in the Drome, and wanted to return to more Meridional pastures. In 2015 they bought a well tended 3.1 hectare, galet stone covered vineyard from a Co-operateur. The first vintage was 2016. The **** 2017 had character, the inclusion of the Syrah stems bringing a smoky freshness.

LVT 2017 r  Started in 2010. Claude Hilt worked in Burgundy before returning to Provence. The domaine name referes to the old production of saffron at Rasteau. There are also two Rasteau Vins Doux Naturels as well. The red moved up in quality in 2017, which was a **** wine well criss-crossed with juice and fluid richness