LVT  2014 rosé  2016  wh  2007  r  Trying to improve quality, 2014 Lirac rosé Vieilles Vignes a ***(*) wine and the Lirac Tradition blanc a shapely ***(*) wine in 2016

LVT 2012 r One of the better names at Lirac, with good packing in the half Syrah, half Grenache red. Christophe Valat is the half brother of long-term family owner Robert Fuget. Also owns Château Saint-Maurice at Laudun. On the sandy soils near Antoine Verda's old, reputed vineyard.

LVT 2012 rosé 2011 r 2011 wh Good, very drinkable rosés, some decent reds, and whites can be excellent, from very suitable draining soils

LVT 2016 rosé 2014 r 2016 wh Son Nicolas, in his 30s, is an oenologue. Gradual rise in quality, clear tasting Lirac rosé and punchy red Lirac Quatuor. The 2016 Lirac Magnolia white was a most pleasurable **** wine, while the Lirac Eglantine rosé is a full-bodied, table wine, around the ***(*) mark usually

LVT 2015 r 2016 wh 2012 rosé Flourishing, very drinkable wines. The lesser wines have caught up the main Baron Louis, which from 2010 has been made as Lirac, and are good value, also w.o.w., as in the case of the 2014 Lirac red. The Baron Louis is a wine that takes its time, is classically structured. Very good, light-touch whites as well, including a Lirac (previously Côtes du Rhône), the Comtesse de Montaucon, that is composed of Clairette blanche and rose from 19th century vines: the 2016 of that was a classy, true ****(*) wine. By the mid-2010s, there is more Lirac and less Côtes du Rhône

LVT 2015 rosé 2011 r 2008 wh Long-established, large estate at Lirac, the heart of the appellation. Bought by Henri de Lanzac in 1995. The good red Côtes du Rhône Clos de l`Hermitage comes from the vineyard near Avignon of Jean Alesi, the Formula 1 racing driver. The Tavel was good in 2014, and very good in 2015.

LVT 2012 wh 2012  r  2015  rosé  Modest fare

LVT 2015 r 2014 wh 2012 rosé Competent wines from the very large Châteauneuf-du-Pape estate. A little mechanical at times, but both the 2014 red and the 2015 reds were good **** wines, the latter full of gusto.

LVT 2016 r 2016 wh 2012 rosé From the Château de la Gardine at Châteauneuf-du-Pape stable, made by Eve Brunel. Agreeable whites, very drinkable, including the Côtes du Rhône, whose 2016 red was a squeezy ***(*) wine. The Lirac red accentuates cool fruit, the 2014 a ***(*) w.o.w. wine

LVT 2009 r 2008 rosé From Alain Jaume of Grand Veneur at Châteauneuf-du-Pape. A leading Lirac - very good, consistent quality.

LVT 2015 rosé 2011 wh 2011 r good, lively wines, can be inconsistent

LVT  2016  r  2016 wh  2015 rosé Fair; used to be a wacky, enterprising couple here, refugees from Algeria. The best recent wine by some way was the 2016 **** Lirac Cuvée Signature red

LVT 2015 r Soaked, modern, plush style on the Lirac. Buzzy *** 2015 Côtes du Rhône red

LVT 2016  r  2016 wh Domaine name changed in 2011, seeking a higher profile. Also makes authentic, organic Châteauneuf-du-Pape, is based at Roquemaure, opposite the Châteauneuf vineyards. The 2016 Châteauneuf-du-Pape Ancien Domaine des Pontifes red was a ****, possessing a genuine Grenache heartbeat, while the 2016 Châteauneuf-du-Pape Ancien Domaine des Pontifes Elise white was a sturdy, natural, honest **** wine.

LVT  2015  wh  2010  r  2012 rosé  Also make good Tavel and a beau Côtes du Rhône white. The domaine is converting to organic.

LVT  2015  r  A joint venture between two good estates at Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Marcoux and Roncière. 8 hectares. Solid wine, more recently on style over power to the point of being very polished up. It was called Domaine La Lorentine until the late 2000s, then changed to Domaine de Marcoux, the wine called La Lorentine.

LVT 2007 r Biodynamic wines. Purity sought over power.

LVT 2016 rosé 2016 red 2012  wh  Organic domaine since 1997, now biodynamic. STGT qualities. The Côtes du Rhône Lunar Apogé red is proper naked wine, full of vim, while the 2015 Lirac red was a **** Thinker's wine

LVT  2015  rosé  2016 r  2016 wh This is an organic, biodynamic domaine, started in the early 2010s. The three Lirac reds hit a good standard, and this is a new name to note. Two of the Lirac reds, the Pierre de Josette (95%) and the Pradau (90%) are mainly Syrah; the 2015 Pierre de Josette was a **** wine with good heart. The wines are made in the old Domaine Duseigneur cellar. Both the Laudun Maestral wines – the white 100% Clairette – are good, the 2014 white a healthy **** wine, the 2016 Maestral red a **** wine. Since 2015 there has been a 1,600 bottle Châteauneuf-du-Pape red, 100% Syrah, called Espirito - the 2015 was commendably fresh, a **** wine. At the lower end of the scale, the 2016 Côtes du Rhône Le Regalant red was a **** wine of character.

LVT 2014 r 2014 wh 2014 rosé After organic debuts, a biodynamic domaine. Good quality, interesting wines, the Lirac Le Blanc white has character, is very much a table wine. The Lirac Les Muses is 90% Mourvèdre (1975-77), and the 2014 was an exciting **** wine. All reds are underground concrete vat raised.

LVT 2016 r  2011 wh  Organic-biodynamic domaine established in the 1960s. Reds have more lucid fruit than in the past, and character. Plenty to interest the mind and the palate - 70% Bourboulenc white Lirac, or 100% well-controlled Syrah Lirac L'Astrolabe. The Laudun Chapelle de Mayran red 2015 was a healthy **** wine, now bottled in the Vaucluse following Bernard's move across the river. This is a good address. Bernard split with his brother Frédéric, who left to start his own biodynamic consultancy, in 2012.

LVT  2014  r  Gérald is a full-time oenologue working with local domaines. On his own account, he works vineyards inherited from his father in Saint-Laurent-des-Arbres, plus a small plot from the plateau at Lirac. Quality is improving, and the 2014 La Vigne d'Yvon Lirac red was ***(*) wine.

LVT  2007  r  Early 2000s start-up, decent body in the classic red Lirac

LVT  2012 r  Bottled by a merchant at Châteauneuf-du-Pape, is made by full-time oenologue Gérald Lafont of Domaine d’Arbousset at Lirac

LVT 2012 wh  2012 rosé  2011 r  Fascinating story. Denis and wife Nathalie are both from Roquemaure. His father was a plumber, her parents were agricole-viticole. Denis Daurelle’s main job is selling vats and presses, a company he set up in 2004. It sells “anything from the reception of the harvest until the equipment needed for bottling.” He is well involved in avant garde concrete vats fromPaduainItaly, sold to leadingBordeauxchâteaux such as Prieuré-Lichine, Chapoutier in the northern Rhône and Julien Barrot at Châteauneuf-du-Pape, for instance.  Domaine started in 2007, when he bought 5.5 hectares of the old Antoine Verda estate. 2007 was vinified chez Verda, the 2008 in his own small, near-garage cellar.

LVT 2015 r 2016 rosé 2016 wh Improvement, even if a bit technical. Sound white Lirac, a step up recently, as well as in the Lirac reds, with the 2014 Tradition and 2014 Saint Valentin both ***(*) wines, the Tradition w.o.w. Some of the 2015 red Côtes du Rhônes such as Bio and 1737 were below par, but the 2015 Lirac Saint Valentin red was once more a ***(*) wine

LVT  2014  r  2016 rosé  Isabelle Boulaire's family previously sent crop to the Cave Co-operative of Saint-Laurent. She is the 12th generation of vignerons. The first red in bottle (limited amount bottled) was 2009, with a rosé added in 2011. Good first wine, with greater finesse and precision coming through from 2011. A real hand-made feel here.

LVT  2012  wh  2015 r  25 hectare domaine, ex Tour des Chênes, which was started in the 1960s by Pieds Noirs from Algeria. Taken over by the Brechet family of Château de Vaudieu at Châteauneuf-du-Pape in late 2011. There has been improvement, with soft, oaked red wines

LVT 2014  r  2012 rosé  2012 wh  Variable reds. Since 2012 a new pneumatic press has helped white and rosé quality. Two domaines come under this name - Domaine des Garrigues and Domaine des Causses & Saint Eynes, with the old Castel Oualou title still used as well under its own right