LVT 2011 r Respectable quality, on the rise. Gigondas, Vacqueyras and Plan de Dieu as well as Sablet. 56 members, 306 hectares, which is small. It was announced in January 2017 that the Cave would become part of the Cercle des Vignerons du Rhône, which is the fusion of the Cave de Rasteau Ortas and the Cave Les Coteaux de Visan. Cost cutting was the main reason.
LVT 2015 r An organic estate, a recent name. 4 hectares across 15 terraced rows, low yields. Jérôme Busato is an oenologue. The 2015 Sablet red was a full, polished **** wine. There is also an organic Sablet rosé. Cor Hominis Laetificat is their merchant range, soldunder the Maison Rouge merchant title – Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Gigondas, Vacqueyras reds.
LVT 2018 r A domaine with 25 hectares of Sablet, started in 2016 with the two sons involved in the enterprise. There are vineyards in the Villages of Plan de Dieu and Vaison-la-Romaine, a parch of under 1 hectare of Gigondas, and some Côtes du Rhône and IGP. The 2017 Gigondas, whole bunch fermented and all steel vat raised, was an authentic ***(*) wine, the 2018 also ***(*)
LVT 2017 r Cécile has also been a professional dancer, and has dabbled in merchant wines. The Gigondas is from her own plot of 1.6 hectares at altitude on Le Pourra in the Dentelles.
LVT 2017 r 2011 wh After separating from his brother Bernard of Domaine de la Verquière in 1992, Denis Chamfort set up on his own. He then sold to Vasco Perdigao in September 2010, Vasco having worked with Monsieur Chamfort before then. His father is Portuguese from Lisbon, his mother is French Basque. He worked with Alain Paret at Saint-Joseph and Condrieu in the Northern Rhône for seven years. There is a promising Rasteau red with local feel, from a high four hectare vineyard converting to organic, while the Vacqueyras red is very sound, the old vine Les 2 Louis, half Grenache, half Mourvèdre from a co-planted 1960s plot at Sarrians, was a traditional, warm lands **** wine in 2016, and the larger production La Perdrière, 20% Mourvèdre, also **** in 2017, a sizeable wine with sleek tannins.
LVT 2017 r 2014 wh A wide range of wines from a long-established Sablet grower, including elegant Gigondas. Organic wines. Usually good value.
LVT 2018 r 2014 wh Wide range here, so possible lack of focus. The white has always been a favourite, ages well, good with foods, now more forward (Viognier in it). Ténébi is a Counoise wine, a rarity. Sablet reds can be full, long-lived, ditto the sturdy Gigondas.
LVT 2018 r 2015 rosé 2014 wh Mainstream domaine, long-established at Sablet, also make Plan de Dieu, Rasteau and Vacqueyras. They are now officially organic. The 2016 Vacqueyras was a typically unpretentious ***(*) wine. There are two Rasteau reds, the old vine cuvée called 1928 a plot specific, small production wine, half Grenache, half Syrah, a most engaging ****(*) wine in 2015, naturally rich, well balanced, very true Rasteau.
LVT 2018 r First bottling of consequence from 2002 – bulk sales only before that. Traditional. full-bodied wines, no pretension, with good, local leanings, too. Good, regular Gigondas, as well, vat only raising, the 2015 and 2016 both ***(*), the 2017 ****, the 2018 a **** STGT wine, also good VALUE. The 2015 Plan de Dieu red was an STGT **** wine, with much local truth, as was the ***(*) STGT Plan de Dieu 2017, while the **** Sablet red [oldest Grenache late 1960s] was also an STGT wine. The wines are now organic.
LVT 2012 r Traditional wines
LVT 2017 r Rustic Côtes du Rhône red in 2015, with a traditional, lusty *** Sablet red in 2012. There's also a Gigondas, for which Boutinot do the selling.
LVT 2015 r 2011 wh Has converted to organic. The classic Séguret is rootsy style wine, buckle your seat belts, and invite a local wild boar in for the evening, but I detect a relative increase in fine-ness with the 2015 vintage - the Classic and the oaked Marquise red were both ***(*) wines, as was the Sablet Réserve red
LVT 2018 r Loïc is the sixth generation of his family with vineyards, 16 hectares at Sablet, the crop going to the Co-operative. He has spent time in Australia, and will widen his range after a 1,300 bottle Gigondas in 2015 - that Gigondas was bottled a winter too early, but still came out as a **** wine, with style and cool features. The Gigondas 2018 was near the top of the vintage, a ****(*) wine, the Real Thing, with character and local imprint, also VALUE.