Domaine le Sang des Cailloux, Vacqueyras, Cuvee Azalais

After slow ox 24 hours, the last two glasses from bottle were the best yet. Purity of blend to nose of exotic spices, plum sauce and palate unique to that part of the world. In my mouth there were a perfect melange of plums, cherries, crumble cake, with good length. Wish I has more bottles.

2009 vintage

Bought at auction in an interesting assorted lot, so this was my only bottle. Let rest upright for 10 days. Was clear on opening, but sediment dust showed pretty quickly. A good two glasses were left in the bottle to rest and slow ox. Nose was muted, but could pick out flowers. Palate was sharp, fresh, real, tasted of CDP quality, with mucho Grenache. Color was crisp, vibrant, translucent garnet and ruby gem quality, not at all showing age. Good …

2009 vintage

Waited way too long to open this bottle. Steely nose. Minimal core of stewed/mulled fruit, leather. Little to offer now.

2009 vintage

A little stank but Lordy! what a wine. Garrigue, plum skin, a bit o’ roasted game, and all sorts of earth notes to the nose. Rich, ripe, and a bit of rôtie on the palate with plum, black fruit, black currant, blackberry, black cherry, and Blackula (seeing if you’ve made it this far) on the palate. Still showing some tannins, but that fruit! If you want an outlier Vacqueyras, it here. Terrific, though I can’t say the fruit will outlast …

2006 vintage

Tobacco, thin but elegant

2006 vintage

Dark red with clear edges, also a fair amount of sediment. Medium intense funky Rhone nose. Still some nice red fruit and pepper. Delicious earthy berry flavours and a nice balanced finish. This surprised me. Younger bottles showed very little. I obviously needed to give these more time. This was from my friend Bill's cellar. On this night much better then the 05 Lopy.

2006 vintage

Tasted vis-avis the Lopy, this fall just slightly behind, still, a great wine with fresh minerality, none of the fatigue, that can mark the 2009, very fine precision and fruit - top Vac.

2009 vintage

The brett others complain of wasn't out of control here, but it's definitely a factor and brett-averse drinkers should beware. Otherwise, bright red fruits that leans pleasantly closer to grenache than syrah and a taut finish; time to drink up.

2006 vintage

Just lovely, offering elegance and mature interest.

2009 vintage

D ruby, with very slight garnet rim. Floral, dried herb, salty, red fruit nose. Maybe a hint of garrigue. l to l/m acid. similar soft tanns. Rich dk fruit and bittersweet choc attack, salty mineral mid pal, m+ body. Fairly long savory fin. lots of time left.

2009 vintage

Barnyard

2006 vintage

Edgy with a touch of bitterness. Pleasing food friendly acidity and good structure.

2009 vintage

This was a duplicate entry

2009 vintage

comparative with SanddC:

2009 vintage

The Brett really dominates this wine. Everything else is okay but really we winemakers need to get past letting Brett get this overwhelming, we know better how to control this these days. It has really lost most of its charm into a rustic funk. Far better several years ago.

2006 vintage

"This wine isn't flawed it just needs cheese." It has some stink on the first nose that blows off eventually. Palate not optimal due to a cold. Much better with food.

2009 vintage

Almost my favourite AOC in Rhone, this one is a bit more delicately bodied now, with an almost perfumed overlay to the gutsy vinification. I have a couple more of these left from a happy bin-end experience! Drank well with a serious egg, bacon and mushroom pasta sauce (english breakfast meets carbonara) and you could imagine an Italian wine might aspire to end up like this

2006 vintage

Vinturied into a decanter for 45 mins. Medium ruby-garnet in colour and the nose detects some crushed cherries and dark fruits with hints of red licorice. Black cherries, black peppers, and earthy licorice on the palate. Front palate still a bit tight, but the finish balances out the rest; did slowly open up some more after some time has elapsed.

2009 vintage

real smell of cigar! - sweet tobacco leaf - perhaps some ash too, nice fruit that's not too sweet, not complex but nice nose; half burnt cigar flavour! - was this bottle poorly stored or something?, good acidity, nice slightly gritty silty tannins, not at all heavy or too ripe,

2009 vintage

The tannins have settled down and this wine is drinking very well now. It still has that sauvage character, and the Grenache/Syrah/Mourvèdre blend was perfect with beef daube on a cool and wet winter night.

2006 vintage

The wine looks Purple colored. The legs are Medium. It smells like Blackberry. It tastes like Prun. The body is Medium. The wine has Coarse texture. The wine finishes Medium.

2009 vintage

Chris's Favourites (Chez Chris Davies, Paris) : Clear, purple, slightly fading at the edge. Clean nose, citrus fruits (bizarrely), something else I can't place. Full palate, lots of tannin. Short-medium finish.

2006 vintage

Fairly dark in colour, with a lovely gamy, leathery and red fruited nose. Closed at first, but soon the palate starts to mirror the quality of the nose. Smooth in texture, medium bodied, with earthy cherries, game, plum, and pepper and a slight tannins at the end. I love the 'sauvage' nature of this wine - elegant yet rustic. Nice now, but should last a few years. I bought my wine at the same place as David C, so was …

2006 vintage

Pop and pour. Floral nose of violets -- typically Rhone. Well balanced, not too tannic, good acid and fruit. Not as big as 2010 Telegramme tasted at same time.

2009 vintage

Dark, deep and smooth from the start. Barnyardy, and chewy. Despite what others found, this bottle had no VA or off notes. But does seem basically at peak. Excellent vacqueyras for me - glad I have more.

2006 vintage

Rich, luscious, cherry flavor. Perfect steak frites companion.

2009 vintage

Rouge violet, corsé, tanins moyens. Goût dominant: cuir, animal, fumée

2009 vintage

A very nice French Rhone blend, barnyard nose, and once it has decanted for over 1 1/2 hours (2 hours even better), the fruit becomes more evident and pronounced. Velvety mouth feel. Wonderful experience.

2006 vintage

Very nice fruit (dark cherries and strawberries) wrapped into a smooth glyceryn-like texture. Amazing soft tannins. Great equilibrium.

2009 vintage

High-toned with lots of VA and Brett showing. Distilled dried fruit notes. Rustic and enjoyable, but lacking the depth and complexity found in the better years from this producer. Mature, but can be drunk over next two years.

2006 vintage

3 years go by fast... deeply colored, beginnings of bricking at the rim... aromatically a nice mix of savory red and dark fruits, some dried herbal notes, soily minerality, no new oak aromas, minimal brett. On the palate this is quite nice with moderate acidity, a very fleshy midpalate, still firm, moderately ripe tannins, moderate alcohol. Balanced wine both aromatically and structurally, average length, very good intensity, great complexity. Wine has very good finesse for this appellation, a very nice …

2006 vintage

Popped and let breathe for 24 hours in cool temperatures. Gushing, with a buttery aftertaste. Creamy blackberry, red fruit, river stones, fig and licorice. See previous notes. Fine tannins; a long finish; the acidity is very welcoming with this being a thicker vintage. Drink 2013 - 2022.

2009 vintage

Not my favorite cuvee from this producer. Plenty of barnyard on the nose, with a hint on the palate. Red berry fruit and nice peppery spice on the midpalate, but a bit linear and lacking expansiveness. Decent finish. Good, not great. This is a lot better the second night. The barnyard has blown off, and the flavors are richer.

2009 vintage

Very nice Vacqueyras. Dark colour, bright. Garrique nose - typical southern Rhone grenache on nose and palate. Medium finish. Keep or drink.

2006 vintage

Sad showing for one of my favorite wines. New to this vintage, and after one hour in a wide decanter it has an astringent nose of paper, graphite, and cigar. Sage and leather distant (I mean like somewhere in Iowa distant) behind that aroma. Diffuse on the palate, a bit like a juicy cigar. Alcohol sticks out a touch, too. This REALLY needs age before drinking. Three hours of air, and it's still painfully locked in a liquid cigar character …

2009 vintage

after two hours decant, this shows some deep dark fruit on the nose, the palate is soft, dry, medium-weight, pretty, feminine, and just overall elegant, shows hints of dark chocolate, cherry, strawberry, plum and mineral, bright acid, not up in your face but pleasant and real, extremely natural and beautiful juice, was a bit light matched up to peppery steaks but no complaints, decant or hold

2009 vintage

Decanted for two hours. An opaque garnet, with a ruby rim. Fig paste, licorice, river stones, lava, roasted beef and white flowers. The palate is bright with acidity, whilst showing a decent grip of tannin. Long and seductive, with some berry on the finish. Lovely mid and back palate. I love this as much as the '05, if not more. Needs more time or do a gentle decant for at least two hours. Drink 2013 - 2023.

2009 vintage

Decent slightly sweet Vacqueyras.

2006 vintage

Nice bright medium red. Raspberry, orange peel and pepper with a bit of earth and spice in a medium wieght nose. Nice soft red fruit flavours and a soft finish. Very good. After 3 bottles with very bretty noses we have this beautiful bottle. Not a trace of brett.

2006 vintage

A nice French Rhone blend, a slight barnyard nose, roasted meat, floral adn esther. The taste is sweet fruit, with a nice structure, layered acidic and tannin finish. 92, a really good rhone.

2006 vintage

Dark clear red. Not too bright or intense. A lot of rotten egg brett. Bits of plum and raspberry fruit. Very dry and pretty thin. Dry, thin finish. Poor.

2006 vintage

Dark red, clear and a bit dull. Very light mediocre dark fruit nose. Nice mineral component. Really poor light flavours. Decent tannins and plenty of acid. Not very good.

2006 vintage

Clear dark red. Seemed to be either really tight or dull. Maybe a dead bottle. Dark fruit and decent sweetness and tannins. Just expected a lot more.

2006 vintage

Funky, earthy, slightly fecal aromatics with a palate full of red and dark fruited flavours and savoury earth and leathery notes. Nicely balanced, very enjoyable (as I don't mind some brett).

2006 vintage

Funky nose: fecal hints and moldy wood. Tart cranberry and cherry dominate the mid-palate along with black pepper and oh so faint vanilla. A veritable definition of 'old world.'

2006 vintage

Just what I was looking for on this cold Autumn evening. A rustic red not to be missed.

2006 vintage

Opened and poured. Aromas of damp earth and dark fruit, flavors of medicinal cherry. I've experienced some bottle variation from this producer, this was a good one. I need to double check but I believe this is a cuvee azalais (probably need to get Eric's help in moving my notes, but maybe not... from http://www.chateauneuf.dk/vacqueyras/en/vacen15.htm : "This basic cuvée changes regularily between 3 names Cuvée Floureto, Cuvée Doucinello and Cuvée Azalaïs. The names do not relate to difference in style …

2006 vintage

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Domaine le Sang des Cailloux, Vacqueyras, Cuvee Azalais

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