LVT  2015  r  2015  wh  Red Ventoux Beffroi has character, is good and rugged from some of the better soils in the Ventoux at Caromb, near Beaumes-de-Venise. The white Beffroi is stylish

LVT 2010 r 2015 wh A joint Co-operative formed by the link-up of two good addresses in 2003, Les Roches Blanches in Mormoiron and a little south-east, La Montagne Rouge in Villes-sur-Auzon. The wines such as the ***(*) 2015 Terra Ventoux red (50,000 bottles), a w.o.w. wine, are great VALUE

LVT 2010 r South-western area of Ventoux, near Carpentras. Converting to organic, gentle style of wine. Also make and sell olive oil.

LVT  2011  r  2012  wh  rosé  35 hectares centred around the Château, between Beaumes-de-Venise and Caromb. Sébastien has been working on the domaine since 1997, taking over from his parents Jean-Claude and Mireille. Previously all crop was sent to the Cave de Beaumes-de-Venise. The cellars were built in 2011. The Ventoux has a big style that is most suited to the USA market. There is also a Muscat Beaumes-de-Venise and a stylish white vin de pays.

LVT 2017 r 2015 wh  Beyond the good Ventoux red and white, there are also two decent Gigondas, one mainly concrete and steel vat raised (les Dessous des Dentelles), the other oaked (le Parpaillon). The Parpaillon price rose from €17.90 in 2014 to €19.90 in 2015, and €23.90 in 2016, which is steep. There is also a Beaumes-de-Venise red. The estate changed hands in 2009 after previous owner Philippe Avon died in an accident in 2007. The two Ventoux whites are pretty stylish, as in 2015. Jean-Pierre Valade also has vineyards in Tunisia.  

LVT 2016 r 2016 wh 2013 rosé  Powerful, polished wines, among the best in the Ventoux, for lovers of modernism. The Quintessence is the most serious red, very good in 2012 and 2015 (both ****), while the whites, including the Terrasses Vin de France are confident and full. There is a good, well drinkable Vin de France range, Le Paradou

LVT 2016 r 2017 wh 2011 rosé British-owned, a good address for enjoyable, authentic Ventoux reds. The 2015 Ventoux La Croix red, 70% Grenache, was an excellent ****(*) wine, highly recommended, while the 2014 and 2016 Ventoux La Source reds were also good, **** wines. The white is agreeable, but has at times become New Wave recently. The domaine is organic.

LVT 2009 r Bought by Paul Jeune of Domaine Monpertuis at Châteauneuf-du-Pape in 2000. The timing was difficult, and Monsieur Jeune sold it to ex-financier Luc Guénard in 2010. Paul Jeune will remain a consultant for a few years more. M.Guénard doubled the vineyard to 30 hectares, and the domaine is now organic.

LVT  2015 r  2015 wh  2017 rosé  30 hectares, a lot of investment. A Franco-Canadian family. The wines started out exaggerated, and heavily cellar influenced, but I sense things are calming down, with the whites now less overdone; they include a young vines Viognier IGP, which was **** in 2014 and ***(*) in 2015. One of the clashes in my view involves Grenache with new oak. The Astralabe Ventoux red is the most relaxed cuvée, and closest to its terroir. The rosé is well made, includes 20% oaking, is suited to la table; up to 12% Rolle has been introduced into it from 2017, which was a **** wine of impressive length. The range is expensive to very expensive - vin de pays de Vaucluse with an oak-fruit bomb leaning [Abelard 2011] at £59.80??? Vineyard cultivation is along biodynamic lines. Since 2015 Alain Graillot has been giving some advice on the Syrah, with the inclusion of some stems as a result. The family also run an up market conference centre called La Verrière.

LVT 2010 r 1st bottling 2003, organic since 2004. Production is above 25,000 bottles, with the potential for 80,000 b. The bulk wine is bottled under their own label for distribution through Les Grandes Serres, Louis Max in Burgundy, Castel. Son Cyrille does viticulture and vinification, father Yves does sales.

LVT 2015 r 2017 wh Organic domaine set up in 2008, when the third generation moved into vinifying and bottling. There are 25.8 hectares, based on 10 ha of Syrah, 9 ha of Grenache, the rest composed of Mourvedre, Merlot and white varieties; the vines stand at a helpful 300 to 450 metres, with various versions of clay soils, sand, stones and some limestone. **** 2015 Terre d'Aïlleuls red [90% Syrah) and **** 2017 Terre d'Aïlleuls white indicate good quality here

Vineyards sold in 2009 to make way for a négociant or merchant business called Caravinserail, which includes assembling own cuvées and brands for clients.

LVT 2010 wh 2012 rosé 2010 r Good name for Ventoux, this family are linked by marriage to the Bernards at Domaine La Garrigue at Vacqueyras and Les Florets Hotel-Restaurant at Gigondas. The Côtes du Rhône reds are good+, as well.

LVT 2017 r  2017 wh Progressive domaine, organic practices, and fun drinking. The fruit is more clear than in the past, and the wines are well worth investigation. There has been a move away from hard core organic practices since around 2014, and there is now more focus on one standard bearing Ventoux red wine for the estate, meaning that some wines such as Fayard have been stopped. There is a new no SO2 wine, a Vin de Pays de Vaucluse. The 2015 Ventoux Divergente red [mostly Syrah, expensive] and Ventoux Il Était une Fois red were **** wines when tasted pre-bottling, the 2015 Ventoux Persia red, tasted twice, a very long ****(*). In 2016 the Ventoux Il Était une Fois red was a **** wine, and the Ventoux Divergente a very grown up Ventoux, a ****(*) wine to take one's time with.

LVT  2015  r  2015 wh This is vinified by the Cellier des Princes Co-operative at Courthézon. Red Ventoux with power, fresh white.

Dutch owners since 1997. Philippe Cambie advises.

LVT 2015 r  2016 rosé  A fantastic 2015 Ventoux La Barre red, 90% Syrah, has been my first and very happy encounter with this domaine based near Beaumes-de-Venise at Caromb, which I consider one of the best spots in the straggling Ventoux appellation. Started in 2015, there are hand made, limited quantities - 1,500 of La Barre and 2,500 of the La Tuilière rosé. Winemaker Matthieu Ponson is from Cornas, and is a fellow member of the Cornas La Geynale grouping. Apart from the 7 hectares of Ventoux, there are a recently acquired 14 hectares at Beaumes-de-Venise, whose crop is delivered to the Cave de Gigondas.

LVT 2009 wh 2012 rosé  One of the better Ventoux domaines

LVT 2010 r 2012 wh One of the best names in the Ventoux, long British and Irish connections. Also do holiday homes.

LVT  2012  wh Organic, reliable, expanding the vineyard since 2012, now 15 hectares.

LVT 2016  r  2016 wh 2016 rosé  8 hectares of high vineyards (350 metres) at Mormoiron and Blauvac. Background in textiles and clothing, the domaine was created in 2001 by Marie Pirsch & Philippe Danel. I find that quality has recently taken a leap forward, and the wines are good and good value, too. Syrah is the main variety - 90% or so in the two Ventoux reds. The IGP Vaucluse Viognier (1970s) from one specific vineyard was an accomplished **** wine in 2016, while the 2016 Ventoux Garrigue red was ****, as was the 2015 Ventoux Bramefan red (early 1970s Syrah).

LVT  2009  r  Organic 17 hectare domaine, wine of some character. Also have a 4 person holiday house, a gîte, with long views of Mont Ventoux.

LVT 2009 r Also have bed and breakfast, and a restaurant run by Madame Gontier`s chef husband. Soft wine.

Organic domaine since mid 1990s, now biodynamic

LVT  2012 wh 2012 r  2012 rosé  An organic, no hyperbole domaine; vineyards mostly at 400 metres a help. No weedkillers since 2003, low use of sulphur, and avoidance of extraction in the vinification. Very good, hand made wines, including the white and the rosé. Reds have always been sound, especially the simpler cuvées. Note a good Syrah, the Véronique - the fruit is clear, and not jammy - as can so often be the case with southern Syrahs.

LVT  2015  wh  Progressive domaine since 1999. Wines named after local winds

LVT 2010 r One of the better Ventoux Co-operatives oveer the years. I still wonder they feel they have to extract the top of the range wines so hard. Who are they trying to impress? Simple wines offer better value, and, crucially, more pleasure.

LVT 2015 r  2016 rosé 2016 wh This has always been one of the best Co-operatives in the Ventoux, and the 2015 reds are well up to scratch

LVT 2018 r 2016 wh 2016 rosé  Respectable, sometimes good Co-operative that combines Lubéron and Ventoux, also does a Plan de Dieu red. The Lubéron Grand Marrenon white was a tasty, genuine ***(*) southern wine for la table in 2016

LVT 2017 r 2012 wh Top name from a German start-up lady at Ventoux; the Ventoux reds are full, well-made wines up to Beaumes-de-Venise standard, with the 2014 holding delightful fruit, a w.o.w. wine; however, the 2017 was a disappointing **(*) wine, lacking body and pleasure. The red Beaumes-de-Venise itself is good, **** in 2016 - wholesome, beau. Organic practices started in 2012, officially so since 2015. Corinna's partner is Thiérry Faravel of Domaine La Bouïssière, also at Beaumes-de-Venise, mainly at Gigondas, along with Vacqueyras

LVT 2011 r One of the better names at Ventoux, domaine started in 2007 after years at the Co-operative.

LVT 2014 r  Very low intervention organic 5.5 hectare domaine – wild yeasts, very little SO2. Hand made approach rules here. Wines of character with a robust, no holds barred intensity, Grenache and Syrah mixed on the Amidyves Ventoux red; the 2015 of that was a brimming **** wine.

LVT 2017 r 2017 wh This is an organic domaine, created in May 2003 after Philippe Gimel had worked at Domaine de la Janasse (2002-03) and previously at Château de Beaucastel (2000-2002) in Châteauneuf-du-Pape. Big wines. Philippe is from Lorraine, and worked for five years as a pharmacist in Nancy. He is an active internet blogger and informer. The 2003-05 vintages were made in a friend's garage, from 2006 to 2015 he used the hangar of a cherry grower. From 2016 he has had his own cellar at Malaucène, which has permitted him to to organise better fermentations, given the installations are much less cold than they used to be.

These are big red wines of good character, raised for up to two years, with never less than 80% in vat. In the exceptional vintage of 2016, the red Ventoux La Source was a **** Thinker's Wine, with subtleties, and the L'Argile was also a **** wine, in the cool style of this domaine. The Ventoux La Pierre Noire red, 80% Grenache, 20% Syrah from the early 1970s, comes from poor rocky clay soils on the Dentelles de Montmirail & St Jean du Barroux, and it was a balanced **** wine in 2016, despite power and generosity.

The reds age well, as does the white Ventoux La Montagne, with Philippe deliberately holding back its issue until six to eight years after its vintage, a move that is merited.

LVT 2016 r  2016 wh  Organic, biodynamic domaine. It was created in 2006. Jean Marot used to be part of Domaine Le Murmurium. There are three small scale production Ventoux reds, and one Ventoux white. The Ventoux regain is the red for earliest drinking. The 50-50 Grenache, Syrah 2015 imagine red was an interesting **** wine, not mainstream at all, the 2015 Ventoux amadeus (mostly Grenache) a **** wine with jolly tasty fruit, and the 2015 Ventoux regain red a ***(*) wine with local character. I also approve of the quality of the corks. The ****(*) 2016 imagine was boosted by the inclusion of the amadeus wine "which didn't please me in the end", and is very good VALUE at €16, a wine that will live well towards 2030, offering much interest. Jean lost 80% of his 2017 harvest to spring frost, so sold the 20% remaining off as bulk wine. He has now made his last wine, and will be retiring from his everyday working of the land.