Rhône 2022 – Vacqueyras reds

A sign in the hillside announcing 'Vacqueyras'

As with Gigondas, a challenging vintage, but Ali finds plenty worth attention. For his reports on the rest of the Rhône in 2022, see this guide

Looking through my notes on the 2022 reds in Vacqueyras, a common theme seems to be drinkability, attractiveness and relatively simple styles. As in Gigondas, some wines were struggling with some rather tough tannic structures. Frédéri Férigoule of Le Sang des Cailloux (shown below) talked me through his experience of 2022. ‘It was incredibly hot. In 2022 we produced absolutely zero white wine – the ferments were impossible, with malolactic happening before...