Visit to Séguret vineyards

The wine-producing village of Séguret is situated west of the Dentelles hills. It is one of the twenty or so Côtes du Rhône Villages that are authorized to use their village name on the label. Wines made under Côtes du Rhône Villages appellation must meet higher standards than those of plain Côte du Rhône. Even higher in the hierarchy are the villages with their own AOC, such as Châteauneuf du Pape, Gigondas and Vacqueyras.

As we had previously tasted some elegant Séguret reds, we now decided to explore the area.

We stayed at Hotel Montmirail near Vacqueyras. The hotel was mentioned for its excellent Provençal restaurant in a 20-year-old guidebook, and we were pleased to find out that that was still the case.

Driving north from Vacqueyras along the D7 road reminded us of Napa Valley. There were numerous wineries and vineyards by the road. At 10 o’clock in the morning, the villages were still very quiet, and many businesses were closed.

Our plan was to visit three very different wineries during the day; A wine cooperative, then a small less known producer, and last an internationally acclaimed producer in the same region.








We started by visiting the Roaix-Séguret cooperative by the D977 road. As the name says, they sell wines produced in these communes. Many of their wines are very attractively priced, too. We tasted their three Séguret reds bottled by the cooperative, namely Domaine Canta Granouio 2013, their blend simply called Seguret Villages 2014, and Roaix 2014, all Appellation Côtes du Rhône Villages Protegée. At 5€ per bottle, they all were good value for money. We chose the Seguret Villages 2014 that we found already now balanced and smooth.

After the first tasting and purchases, we headed to the village of Séguret for lunch. We chose Le Mesclun with a panoramic terrace. Actually there were not that many options in this village or in the vicinity. Their lunch offer called “Petit cuisine du Marché” was just delicious and sufficient for us as we headed to the next visit nearby, a vineyard called Domaine de Eyguestre in the secluded hills above Séguret. Fortunately, the road was signposted!  The clay and grey limestone land here is very suitable for wine cultivation. The soil is said to give smaller yields of higher quality. Incidentally, we had read about their wines on Le Petit Ballon web site. We had made a rendezvous before arrival and met Mr Laurent Bellion the proprietor. We tasted Séguret Côtes du Rhône Villages Domaine de Eyguestre 2013 and 2014 blends (Grapes: Grenanche, Cinsault and Syrah). For us, the difference was negligible but we went for the 2013 vintage that had been reviewed by Le Petit Ballon. We also bought some olive oil there.

Our last stop was Domaine de Mourchon by the same narrow road, on the way back to Séguret. Created in 1998, the winery is run by the McKinlay family. We got an excellent presentation by the proprietor Mr Walter McKinlay himself and had the opportunity to taste some of their bestsellers such as:

Mourchon Grande Réserve Séguret (Appellation Côte du Rhône Villages) made of 65% Grenache and 35% Syrah, aged 40% in oak barrels and 60% in concrete vats.

Mourchon Tradition Séguret (Appellation Côte du Rhône Villages) made of 65% Grenache, 25% Syrah and 10% Carignan, aged 100% in concrete vats, consistent with the ancient method.

Mourchon Châteauneuf du Pape (Appellation Châteauneuf du Pape Controlée) has 70% Grenache, 20% Mourvedre and 10% Syrah. The winery does not own vines in Châteauneuf du Pape but as the owner explained, the “juice” is acquired from there through a négociant.

As amateurs, we got a lot of new information about this important wine region, and its rather complex classification system from only three visits.