LVT 2011 r  Big, sturdy, potent wine from Philippe Cambie and the Domaine des Escaravailles

LVT 2014 r 2014 wh 2014 rosé  Good, sound reds, and very food-friendly whites that can age. Good Séguret red.

LVT 2014 r Younger generation adding finesse to the wines. Good balance in 2009, a hot year, is an example. The Gabriel Meffre descendants here.

LVT  2018  r A 14 hectare domaine acquired by the Sabon family of Domaine de La Janasse at Châteauneuf-du-Pape; first vintage 2015. There is a Châteauneuf-du-Pape red from 1.9 hectares, a Côtes du Rhône red and a Plan de Dieu Village red. The 2016 Châteauneuf-du-Pape red was a ****(*) STGT wine. Fair quality on the Rhône/Villages for now.

LVT 2015 r Young grower, joined by his brother in 2011, near Violès, showed promise with both his wines, the Côtes [13.5 hectares] and the Plan de Dieu [7 hectares]. Traditional, manly style, full-on. Also have 3.5 hectares of Rasteau. Some of the wine is sold through Olivier Ravoire.

LVT 2018 r  2019 wh 2015 rosé Authentic wines, plenty of power off the Plan de Dieu. Son Julien, 36 years in 2020, has harvested in NZ, and has been on the domaine since 2009. There are new vineyards at Gigondas since 2009, with the 2018 Gigondas one of the btter wines of that tricky vintage. while at Rasteau [since 2011] quality has been steady. The Vacqueyras red, STGT in 2007 and 2011, was a gourmand **** wine in 2016.

LVT  2018 wh  2017  r  A traditional domaine with some sound reds in the past. It has become a good name, even if some prices may be a little high, and is a blue blood of the vast, rolling Plan de Dieu. The domaine was started in 1920 by Casimir Barbaud, 18 hectares largely dedicated to mulberry trees, for the silk trade, and a small plot of vines. He built a cellar, and vinified his own harvest. His son Maurice took the domaine to the next level, with fruit and grapes. His son Jean-Paul took over in 1976, and concentrated on wine, first bottling the 1978 vintage. His daughter Céline started in 2010, and commenced organic practices in 2012, which became official in 2015. The proportion bottled is rising; there is 900 hl possible, with some of that sold in bulk.

The vineyards are in just two plots – 17 hectares at Violès for the Côtes du Rhône, and 8 hectares at Travaillan for the Plan de Dieu. The secret weapon here is the 1960s Mourvèdre, which serves the classic Plan de Dieu extremely well, giving it real quality. The other Plan de Dieu, Les Brigands, is over-oaked – two-thirds new.

The Côtes du Rhône range Les bons moments is the successful easy drinking selection of red, white and rosé. The 2018 white, 25% each Roussanne, Marsanne, Viognier and Clairette blanche, was a ***(*) w.o.w. wine. There are two superior Côtes reds, the Grandes Terres in 2016 a **** V wine, up to Villages standard. Then there is the 100% mid-1930s Carignan called Carino Mio, made by macération carbonique – the **** 2017 fresh, attractive and correctly floral for a Carignan.

The family also have a cottage to let and a camping site.

LVT 2016 r A typically spicy Plan de Dieu from this large, low profile domaine based at Travaillan, much of the wine sold through supermarkets in France

LVT 2009 r 2010 wh I used to buy these in 1990s (from Justerinis, who no longer imprt them) - the two red Côtes du Rhônes. Well-structured, long-lived, authentic edge of the Plan de Dieu wines. Organic, real non-intervention approach. Then for some reason extraction became an issue. Jury out.

LVT  2016 r  Robust, hearty reds, led by the Plan de Dieu, with, since 2016 and its raising to named Villages, a Sainte-Cécile Côtes du Rhône Villages Château Le Grand Retour red that was a charged, honest, savoury **** wine in that vintage

LVT 2016 r 2011 wh A big STGT runner. This is a domaine well worth investigating - full, genuine and punchy wines, really exemplary. Daniel Boulle is an ex Co-operateur. It has been organic and biodynamic since the late 2000s. The Plan de Dieu is leading edge wine in that Villages, always solid and compact. There are two cuvées, the Plan des Galets, 60% 1970s Grenache, 20% Syrah, 20% Mourvèdre on clay-limestone, and the Vieilles Vignes, taken from 80% early 1950s-1960s Grenache and 20% early 1960s Mourvèdre at Sérignan on clay-limestone, siliceous, galet stone soils. The 2015 Vieilles Vignes was a ****(*) wine, pre-bottling.

Apart from good standard, full Côtes du Rhône reds, there is an interesting Côtes du Rhône Villages 3 Cépages” red, equal shares of Grenache, Syrah, Mourvèdre, concrete vat raised, can be STGT. The oldest block of vines for the domaine is the 1921 Grenache that forms the 90% heart of the Rasteau red, called 1921. It grows on yellow clay at the top, blue clay at the bottom of Les Marc Ouest, and is 600-litre oak cask raised; before the mid-2010s it was half concrete vat raised, and the oak is now more prominent. It was a complex, abundant ****(*) wine in 2015, the bouquet reflecting sunshine, warm lands, while the palate spoke of mineral in the soil.

LVT 2018  r  Traditional with a capital T. Started in 1912, have been bottling since 1952. The ***(*) 2019 Côtes du Rhône Pécoulette red was ***(*) better than the 2010, genuine, natural and well fruited, a hand made wine. There is also a Cairanne red that comes in a traditional style, the 2018 ***(*), a spicy, herby wine.

LVT 2019 r 2019 wh 2015 rosé A domaine I have known since the 1970s - genuine, hearty wines with real local stamp. The reds are mostly large 35 hl barrel [foudre] raised. Apart from the real local stamp Plan de Dieu Villages red - **** and STGT in 2019 - the brothers now make a respectable Rasteau - **** in 2017 - as well as a local, country wine style Cairanne red, and an excellent 100% Syrah (1970s & older) vin de pays de Vaucluse, the 2018 a **** wine. From the recent Sainte-Cécile Villages, there is now a softly easy red, the 2019 a ***(*), 10,000 bottles of it. Many bases are covered here, well.

LVT 2016 r 2012 wh Traditional, robust, praiseworthy wines that beyond the Côtes du Rhônes include good Plan de Dieu red - a magnificent ****(*) STGT 2016 for example - and Vacqueyras, the latter a highly authentic STGT ****(*) wine in 2015 and in 2010, and also ****(*) in 2012. A name I have followed since the early 1970s.

LVT  2018  r  2012 rosé  Quite a recent start-up; punchy red wines. Over four hectares of Gigondas as well, with a hearty red from there as well. Benjamin is the partner of Audrey Vidal of Domaine du Banneret at Châteauneuf-du-Pape, and vinifies the Banneret Châteauneuf-du-Pape white, which was first made in 2015. His own Vieilles Vignes Châteauneuf-du-Pape red favours ripeness over freshness.

LVT 2018 r 2012 rosé  Good source of Gigondas, whose emphasis is on purity and clarity over power. The other wines are robust, having been a bit hot in the past. Son Laurent, now in early 40s, returned to the domaine in 2000 after a commercial job. The Daniels have a wide spread of vineyards.

LVT 2009 r Progress on the 2009 Plan de Dieu red. High Mourvèdre use unusual.