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Château des Tours

The Reynaud family continues to craft some of the most singular wines in the Rhône Valley. Emmanuel Reynaud oversees production at three family-owned estates: Château Rayas, Château de Fonsalette and Château des Tours. Increasingly, he involves his children in running these estates. One of Reynaud's sons, Benoit, holds a degree from Changins Haute Ecole de Viticulture et Oenologie in Switzerland. With guidance from his father during critical moments in the grape growing cycle and winemaking process, he recently took a leading role at Château des Tours with its 39 hectares of vineyard. The hand-harvested grapes typically undergo whole-cluster fermentation, which adds some herbaceous funkiness. Fermentation temperatures for the reds can reach up to around 30°C (86°F), while only native yeasts are used. The highest-quality wine at Château des Tours is their Vacqueyras Réserve, and it is produced exclusively from the oldest parcels, primarily planted with Grenache. Albeit not reaching the same levels of depth and complexity, these wines show a remarkable stylistic resemblance to their Château Rayas siblings from Châteauneuf-du-Pape. They share hauntingly fragrant aromatics, silky tannins and a seamless mouthfeel. Bizarrely, the 2002 and 2014 Vacqueyras Réserve vintages were both disqualified by the AOC committee. According to Reynaud, the deciding jury deemed them insuffisant and too pale-colored, claiming differences in their profile compared to other wines from the same vintages. Consequently, the 2002 and the recently released 2014 reds from Château des Tours - initially intended as Vacqueyras Réserve - were bottled as Côtes-du-Rhône Grande Réserve. I can't help thinking that using the word “Grande” is some kind of “response” to the AOC. Regardless of what’s written on the label, the 2014 Côtes-du-Rhône Grande Réserve is a beautiful wine with at least ten more years ahead of it. Reynaud also pulled the cork of a delicious 2001 Vacqueyras Réserve, proving that these reds are built for the long haul.

From Vacqueyras New Releases: Walking the Underdog (Nov 2023) by Nicolas Greinacher

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2016 Côtes du Rhône

Color: Red

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