LVT 2019 rosé 2019 wh 2018 r One of the largest bottlers of Tavel, around 280,000 units. A longstanding upper echelon estate, with a faithful following on the east coast of the United States after the liberating American army encountered the wine in the late summer of 1944 as it fought its way north up the Rhône Valley. The Tavel from 2007 has come in a fresher, more direct style than in the past. The **** 2015 Tavel was high on charm. The Côtes du Rhône red is simply fruited wine for young, slightly chilled drinking.

LVT 2019 rosé 2019 r 2016 wh  Now organic, with the overall aim of lower intervention in the cellar, too, meaning that the crop for the Côtes du Rhône Domaine Terre Davau red, a family vineyard, is harvested at night, to avoid SO2 use in the first stages of vinification. There is stylish Tavel, good Lirac red, and from 2014 a sound 100% Grenache Châteauneuf-du-Pape red. This has now moved on to two cuvées, the "classic" still called Trinité, and an also 100% Grenache from Les Terres Blanches, limestone-galet stone influenced soils just North of the village, the latter 4,000 bottles. It is half concrete vat, half new oak raised - the 2019 was a genuine **** wine.

The 2016 Château de Manissy Côtes du Rhône red was a **** w.o.w. wine, as was the 2019, also **** and w.o.w. - it is of interest, since its 60% Grenache is complemented by Carignan and Counoise, no trace of Syrah or Mourvèdre in it.

The 2017 Tavel Trinité was a ****(*) wine, offering temptation in the glass, real class about it. The 2,000 bottle Tavel Langoustière, introduced in 2018, is taken from the oldest vines which are worked biodynamically; it is fermented at a relatively high 18-22°C, with the objective of obtaining a gourmand wine for the table; the first vintage was a ***(*) wine, fleshy and almost savoury, the **** 2019 a grounded, true Tavel, warm lands in its veins.

LVT 2019 rosé 2018 red A family domaine since 1936, and very low profile, organic farming. Refrigerated vats for storing the wine since 2002. 30% is sold in bulk. The family started a red wine in 2009, with 0.4 hectare bought from Guillaum's aunt.

The main Tavel is always elegant, pure and accomplished, a true child of its sandy soils, a **** STGT wine in 2017 and ****(*) in 2019, when it held character and interest. A fresh style, quick drinking AutremenTavel was introduced in 2011; the 2019 was exactly that, a ***(*) w.o.w. wine that was very easy to drink, including for the aperitif. After an indifferent 2018 vintage, it was good to see these two wines well back on form in 2019. The oak-raised Le Sablon Côtes du Rhône red (half Grenache, half Syrah-Mourvèdre) is now a Lirac red, the 2015 a sinewed, pure ***(*) wine, the 2016 fine, pretty full, also ***(*), likewise the clearly-fruited 2018

LVT 2019 rosé 2016 wh 2016 r  The Bernard family owned this estate with its good soils when I first visited Tavel in 1973, and their Tavel was of the highest quality, a fresher and more stylish wine than many of the rather oxidative wines around at the time. From 1994 it was owned by Jean-Claude and son Raphaël Garcin, who added the Domaines Saint-Anthelme, Les Ramières and Longval to it, the name Genestière-Saint-Anthèlme in these years, when the wines leaned towards extraction. Tragically, Raphael died in an accident when still a young man.

The property was bought in 2015 by Christian Latouche, owner of two domaines in Les Baux de Provence, between Avignon and Aix-en-Provence; they are the Domaine de La Vallongue [38 hectares, organic since 1985] and Domaine des Terres Blanches [50 hectares, organic since 1970]. The name was changed to Château La Genestière from Domaine La Genestière after that. The range is now Tavel, Lirac, Côtes du Rhône red, and IGP d’Oc wines in three colours.

The two 2017 Tavels were genuine, suggesting a drive to uphold the authentic qualities of the place, whatever the rush to jump on the Provence rosé bandwagon. The La Magnanerie was a ****(*) success, the classic ****. The 2018 Tavel Château La Genestière was an STGT ****(*) wine, very true and convincing, the 2019 a **** wine full of gourmand pleasure. Since 2012 part of the vineyard has been worked organically, and there is now a Tavel Château La Genestière Vin Biologique, the 2019 a fresh, detailed **** wine. The Lirac white has style, while the Lirac red is polished, the 2016 a **** wine.

LVT 2019 rosé 2018 r This is a good, understated, very regular quality domaine. Les Amandines has been good recently. Cyril started in 2005; Gaston, his grandfather, was a viticulteur, and his parents held the vineyards of over 15 hectares between Tavel (11 ha) and Lirac (5 ha).

The 2016 Tavel Les Gourmandines was a very true, STGT **** wine, the 2017 a cracking **** wine. I slightly preferred the Tavel Amandines in 2018, which was a **** live, stylish wine. In 2019, the **** Amandines was also a notch ahead of the Gourmandines - a fuller and more complete wine. The 2016 Lirac Hommage - the special cuvée red - was an imposing **** wine that will live well thanks to its Mourvèdre.

LVT 2019 rosé 2016 r 2017 wh Steady to good quality, modern style wines, vineyards receiving more attention recently, with good results, shown by the cracking ****(*) STGT 2016 Tavel; the 2017 and 2018 were **** wines, for la table, dishes such as brandade.

LVT  2018 rosé 2015 r Eric Pfifferling is big on Vin Nature. He uses little SO2, constantly seeks to further his understanding of vineyard and cellar, and keeps a low profile. He was joined by sons Thibault in 2015 and Joris in late 2016, so there is definite energy here. Vineyard work is detailed and accomplished. The wines are full of interest, and can live pretty well also, all the more if stably and coolly cellared by the purchaser. The Tavel Anglore Vintage [pink label] is raised for 12-18 months, about twice the duration of the classic blue label Tavel. There is also a drink early, more aperitif style of Tavel called Prima, introduced in 2018. The Lirac L'Anglore red from 1971-73 vines is a wine of character, as one would expect, the 2015 a **** wine

LVT 2019 rosé 2019 r 2019 wh A top grade domaine hit by the tragic, sudden death of Christophe Delorme aged 52, from a heart attack in June 2015. Modern style wines, have a lot of gusto in them. The Tavel is a little less full-on than in the past, likewise the white Lirac - a more tender approach has been taken from the early 2010s. The 2016 Tavel La Reine des Bois - the top Tavel - was a marvellous STGT ****(*) wine of which Christophe would have been very proud; the 2019 was also ****(*) and STGT.

The red Lirac La Reine des Bois is one of the best in its appellation, the 2015 a serene, well-filled ****(*) wine, the vigorous 2016 also ****(*), and the 2017 another ****(*) wine, high quality and very fair VALUE. I have always liked, and bought, the Lirac La Reine des Bois white, which is a mix of six to seven varieties - led by Grenache blanc and Clairette, with support from Marsanne, Roussnne, Viognier, Picpoul blanc, Bourboulenc and sometimes Ugni blanc. The 2019 was a ripe, vivid ****(*) STGT wine. The recent Dame Rousse Les Vestides Tavel, created in 2013, is very good, and testament to Christophe's craft.

The Châteauneuf-du-Pape reds, La Dame des Bois and the Belle Voyageuse, have always been racy and interesting: the 2016 La Dame was a ***** wine, the 2016 Voyageuse a ****(*) wine, while both were ****(*) in 2018. The domaine is now officially organic.

LVT  2012 rosé  Traditional domaine, the top Prestige Tavel solid wine

LVT 2015 rosé Founded in 1973 by Edouard Lefevre and his wife, this domaine is now run by their daughters. The Tourtouil stream runs across the vineyard. The wines are bright and authentic.

LVT  2019 rosé 2017 r  A vineyard rented from Jean-Louis Roudil from 2013 onwards after the departure of his son Benoît from the family estate. 6.5 hectares at Tavel, and 3.8 hectares at Lirac. François Dauvergne is commerce and Jean-François Ranvier is in charge of vines and vinification. They are better known for R & D Vins, Dauvergne Ranvier, based in Laudun. The Tavel is moving in the right direction, with the blend changing markedly between 2016 and 2017, the latter year holding 29% Mourvèdre (nil in 2016). The **** 2018 Tavel was firm and long, a classic table wine. A Lirac red was introduced in 2016, the first vintage delivering cracking fruit in a **** wine

Fifth generation of a family that has vineyards near Costières de Nîmes. Grégory has 3 hectares at Costières, mainly Syrah. The project started in late 2014. He works 3.4 hectares at Tavel – the Domaine Pelaquié vines; at Lirac there will be 0.5 hectare planted in 2017-18, led by Grenache. The vineyards will emphasize massale cuttings. Organic practices. The cellar is being built in 2016, and the first wine will be the 2017 – a major part in bottle, a small part in crop form. For now, the crop from the Tavel vineyards is sold.

LVT 2006 rosé Eric Rocher is an ex-négociant who lives in Lyon. His northern Rhône estate is Champal-Rocher that has vineyards in Saint-Joseph and Crozes-Hermitage, and has been smartly restored.

LVT 2016 rosé 2015 r  Officially organic since 2012. Wines made with some care.

LVT 2019 rosé 2019 wh 2018 r  These are organic wines, with a refined style, and quality up a gear since stopping machine harvesting and reverting to harvesting by hand. In the hot summers such as 2019 they are full, generous. The Lirac white le Classique, only 3,000 b, was a stylish **** wine in 2016

LVT 2019 rosé 2019 wh 2019 r A leading edge domaine at Tavel, now organic. The Roc-Epine sobriquet derives from France’s most famous trotting horse of the late 1960s, the Champion Roquépine, now long established in the paddocks of the sky. The wines carry plenty of bold fruit, and while modern, have an accomplished moderation about them. The Tavel always carries plenty of content, and can evolve past a sometimes slightly feisty first year; 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2019 were all ****. The Esprit Tavel was zero SO2 wine in 2017, ***(*).

The Lirac red is best drunk after three years or so to allow it to weave its elements together. The special Lirac red wine, La Ferme Romaine, was a supremely elegant ****(*) in 2016. The white Lirac is also a good example of this underrated region’s ability to provide stone fruit, clear-topped whites with an interesting freshness inside them. It is a consistent **** performer. There is sometimes very good red Châteauneuf-du-Pape also, the 2015 a ****(*) wine of understated complexity. The 2016 Côtes du Rhône red was a real winner, a genuine and w.o.w. **** wine. The domaine has been formally organic since 2012.

LVT 2012 rosé 2008 wh

LVT 2019 rosé 2009 r Old Tavel family, the Roudils, with a new oenologue since 2010. Quality was pretty good in 2014, 2015 and 2018, notably on the up, the Vieux Moulin 2018 a ****(*) w.o.w. wine offering great drinking with a wide variety of dishes. They have introduced a lighter Tavel called My Tavel, from sandy soils (the classic is drawn from four different soils). This is a little simple, a *** wine, in 2018: go for the classic is my advice. 

LVT 2019 rosé 2018 r 2019 wh Cleanly made wines, modern, fruit-led, a very consistent performer across the range, a leading name at both Tavel and Lirac. There are now three Tavels, the most recent, Libiamo, fermented and raised in new 600-litre oak casks.

Notable recent wines are the very good VALUE **** 2016 Lirac La Fermade white [always a good perfomer], the STGT **** 2016 Tavel Prima Donna, and the plunging ****(*) 2019 Prima Donna, while the special, oaked Lirac Casta Diva white [Clairette with Viognier usually] has been making progress recently after uncertain early vintages, the 2016 a ****(*) wine of tremendous length.

The two Lirac reds, La Fermade and Nessun Dorma, were fab in 2018, the **** former a real rocker, a benchmark wine for the vintage, the latter bearing top drawer fruit, a classy ****(*) wine. 

LVT 2019 rosé 2016 r STGT alert here. True, genuine Tavel that is absolutely suited to local Mediterranean dishes. The wines do well over time, longer than most. The 2015 was STGT, very good indeed, the ****(*) 2017 also STGT. The 2019 was a solid, slightly hidden, full **** wine. In 2019 Gaël had fun working with Eric Pfifferling on a new zero added SO2 cuvée called La Combe des Rieu. Cask raised, this is a wine of much character, which held very well for days once opened. The Lirac red is also good and well-filled, the 2016 a **** wine where the 17% Mourvèdre made a firm imprint. helpful to its structure. 

LVT 2012 rosé

LVT 2018 rosé A classic version of Tavel, the **** 2018 well balanced, and full of buzzy fruit

LVT  2012 rosé  4 hectares at Tavel, 1 hectare at Lirac, first vintage 2012. Not there yet. Tavel vinified at Seigneur de Vaucrose.

LVT 2012 rosé  Small, 5+ hectare. Out of the loop style, near Vin Naturel

LVT  2015 rosé  2011 r A domaine started in 2006. Nathalie is a Roudil – Tavel wine royalty – her father Henri Roudil of Domaine du Vieux Moulin. Benoît worked as a chef at La Pinède in St Tropez, spent two years with Alain Ducasse, and lived in Geneva and other parts of France before coming to Tavel to work his father-in-law’s vines from 1998. There are 5 hectares oftavel– 3 from Le Vieux Moulin, and two new hectares of Mas Duclaux, with 1.25 hectares at Lirac. The domaine was flooded in 2002, which luckily led to the demise of their 100 year old large barrels (foudres). The Lirac red is light and easy, the Tavel has style.

LVT 2019 rosé 2019 wh 2018 r Good quality from this large Co-operative, notably the Prestige des Lauzeraies, and the improved and good value red and white Côtes du Rhône Acantalys wines. It was enlarged in January 2018 after its fusion with the smaller, lesser Cave de Lirac. The Terroir des Sables 2016 Tavel was a real winner, **** STGT wine with sand-derived purity, and very good VALUE. In 2017, the Tavel Cuvée Royale was a genuine **** wine, with the 2018 Royale also a **** w.o.w. wine and the 2018 Tavel Les Lauzeraies a **** STGT wine

LVT 2012 rosé wh 2010 r Cyril Amido left the Co-operative in and made his first wine in 2005. The Tavel can be good, but reduced, so decanting is advised.

LVT 2019 rosé 2007 r Leading name here, a fresh style of Tavel sought. They are organic wines that have been a little light recently, New Wave, one foot in the Provence camp. The style is airborne, bright, a little ephemeral compared to the traditionally deep Tavels that I favour. They are riveted to a ***(*) level as result.