Red | Ready, but will improve | Le Plan des Moines | 2016 | France > Rhône Valley > Vacqueyras | Grenache 80%, Syrah 20% | Medium Bodied, Dry | 14.5% abv

Three old mates with six decades of experience between them, got together to create a fresher, more vibrant style of Rhône wines. Wine merchant Daniel Orsolini, sommelier Thierry Pommet, and winemaker Claude Serra, have crafted a series of remarkable, organic, low-intervention wines with fruit from their own vineyards across the Rhône Valleys diverse terroirs. Wines that take you down unexpected avenues and will prompt you to re-evaluate this endlessly fascinating and historic region.

Vacqueyras is one of more prestigious of the eighteen fabled crus of the Rhône valley, which together produce less than a fifth of the valley's wines. The region's wines are like Côtes du Rhône reds on overdrive: more intense, more spicy, deeper in flavour. Really gutsy, honest wines, and we love them. Grenache is king here, and must be at least half of the blend. The chaps have included some darker-fruited Syrah, which gives a blackcurrant and liquorice kick. Hand-harvested from a stony vineyard 150 metres above sea level, then naturally fermented in concrete tanks (no oak here).