Three wines from a small area of the Côtes du Rhône Villages wine region (CDRV). All three are widely-available in French supermarkets. We can picture these vineyards as we stayed exactly here in Séguret in June this year. All are overlooked by the Dentelles de Montmirail. Famously, the soil and exposure changes significantly within this small area. The Plan de Dieu is a huge area of the alluvial plain planted with vines throughout, the area around Séguret is slightly higher and slopes more. Sablet is the smallest area of these three, Les Vignerons du Gravillas is a well-regarded and progressive small cave just outside Sablet village making wines to sell under various local appellations.
Tasting notes
Domaine Lucien Tramier - Plan de Dieu, 2022. CDRV
2022, which is generally a good year for Séguret
Cherry red colour
Taste very much in blackberry or plum territory though the colour is dark cherry
Tannic but not overwhelmingly tannic
Dry but so full of flavour it is a delight.
Just the Côtes du Rhône Villages designation and widely available in Marseille, I wonder how the réserve from the same house tastes.
Seigneur de Renouard - Séguret, réserve 2022. CDRV
Really intense. Complicated. Very Dry. Medium tannic and strong. A really strong and pleasant, lingering after-taste.
A great complement to our Magret de Canard (duck breast) with a home-grown damson sauce from my garden in Keswick. The English duck was tasty and tender.
Les Quéradières, Le Gravaillas - Sablet 2019. CDRV
Wet cork. Intense and dry. The darkest colour.
The most complex of these three, the least dry, bitter or tannic. The most rounded (note 2019 vintage).
The most flavour with damson predominating.
More rounded. Less tannic and bitter and dry.
Our conclusion
We enjoyed all of them in Brighton over the Late Summer holiday weekend; the Sablet from Les Vignerons du Gravillas is the most difficult to obtain but worth seeking out.