TN: Domaine Montvac 2007 Vacqueyras "Arabesque"

[Chasse-Spleen]

Domaine Montvac 2007 Vacqueyras "Arabesque"

Beautiful dark translucent purple. Spices, hint of liquorice, garrique on the nose. Subtle at first, the nose opens up considerably with air. Some strawberry at first in the nose and mouth but later this disappears and a darker fruit profile remains. Medium bodied at first but also fills out with time. Firm tannins that smooth out later but plenty tannic in general. No wood used, the store note said. Silky texture and great balance. Very long finish. A wild, untamed wine but with a paradoxical elegance. 14% alcohol. Very complex wine showing a lot of development in the glass. At first the wine was spiky, spicey, and very tannic, but after four or five hours, a rounder, lush texture emerged. Eventually there is some milk chocolate which was unexpected but delicious. Great typicity. You would never guess that this wine was anything but a Vacqueyras, and it's doubtful that anyone in another part of the world would be able to duplicate it. Small producer making super wine. I loved it.

-Chasse

[Rick]

I have yet to pick up any 07 Vacqueryas though many other 07 CdPs and CdRs

as a small producer I may not be able to fine but sounds like it is worth looking for

rick

[Chasse-Spleen]

It was rated by Wine Spectator and they said something like '225 cases imported' so it would have to be somewhat scarce. But that said, I don't think I've ever had a bad bottle of Vacqueyras. I got it at Astor Wines in NYC.

[Blanquito]

How much does it cost? Sounds great.

[Chasse-Spleen]

$19! I couldn't really believe it as they don't have many bargains at Astor. It was very easy to experiment at that price. RP used to rate it back in the late 90s, but he gave up on them for some reason or other. Vacqueyras and Gigondas can be amazing wines, much better or at least more authentic than over-extracted CdRs that are really just wannabe CNdPs.