"2023 Vacqueyras “Les 2 Monardes”- Domaine Monardière As I mentioned last year, the Vache family purchased this estate in 1987 and converted their vineyards over to organic farming in 2000. All of their vineyards are harvested by hand and their Vacqueyras “Les 2 Monardes” cuvée is made from a cépages of seventy percent grenache and thirty percent syrah. The vines that go into this bottling are forty years of age, with the bunches are destemmed and the wine fermented with native yeasts, prior to twelve months of élevage in a combination of tanks and used barrels. The 2023 Les 2 Monardes comes in at a svelte 13.5 percent octane in this vintage and delivers a simply superb bouquet of dark berries, grilled meats, pepper, bonfire, dark soil tones and a nice touch of upper register garrigue. On the palate the wine is pure, full-bodied, focused and complex, with an excellent core of fruit, firm, well-integrated tannins, fine balance and a long, promising finish. The wine will demand a few years in the cellar to soften up and blossom, but it is going to be excellent."