91 -93 points,

Robert Parker's Wine Advocate, October 2010

Of the three village offerings from Tardieu-Laurent - the Vacqueyras Vieilles Vignes, the Rasteau Vieilles Vignes, and the Gigondas Vieilles Vignes - the 2009 Vacqueyras has the most fat and corpulence and is the most vivid and purest expression of Grenache. It is a 10- to 15-year wine.

91 points,

Stephen Tanzer's IWC, February 2012

Opaque ruby. Sexy aromas of black raspberry, cherry-cola, Moroccan spices and lavender. Vibrant and precise on the palate, offering energetic red and dark berry flavors and a late note of bitter chocolate. Becomes more floral with air and finishes with notes of blackberry, vanilla bean and anise. This wine has put on weight and sweetness since I saw it last year.

About Winery

Tardieu is perhaps the ultimate in minimal intervention, because unlike Dominque in Burgundy he plays no role in the fermentations of the wines that he sells, only taking control of the process once the wines are in barrel. He purchases wine on the basis of quality of the vines, and indeed the vines are the starting point for him.

First, inspecting the vineyards of the Rhône Valley, he identifies plots containing old vines (here meaning more than fifty years of age), a strong feature of the Tardieu-Laurent portfolio, and having succeeded in this he will then approach the relevant vigneron to open negotiations. If successful, and the grower agrees to enter into a contract, Tardieu will arrange for his new barrels to be delivered to the vigneron's property.

The Syrah wines - Hermitage, Côte-Rôtie and so on - will go into new Tronçais oak, whereas wines based on Grenache will go into one-year old barrels. Once the wine has finished fermentation and is run off into the barrels, they are ready for transfer to the Tardieu-Laurent cellars, usually sometime during the spring following the harvest.

In this fashion the Tardieu-Laurent portfolio covers all the major appellations of the Rhône, north and south, and subsequently Tardieu has branched out to take in some areas of Provence and Languedoc as well. Those wines sourced from appropriately old vines are bottled as Vieilles Vignes, but from across all the Rhône Valley there are many high quality wines sourced which may be bottled as Cuvée Tardieu-Laurent or Les Grandes Bastides.

In the cellars the wines are racked, but are hand-bottled without fining or filtration. The quantities in question can be very small, sometimes just a handful of casks.

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