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Madame Combe at Domaine la Fourmone, l'Oustau Fauquet in the southern Rhône.

Vacqueyras, Gigondas, Côtes du Rhône

Madame Combe produces high quality intense wines using traditional techniques from the domaine nestling under the Dentelles mountains.Significantly the wines are not filtered, which enables them to retain all the structure and body of these concentrated, powerful and charming wines.

Roger Combe, the patriarch of the domaine, is a real Provencal and a renowned poet in the region. You will find Provencal phrases on the labels. The name "Fourmone" is believed to come from the Latin "Fromentum" (wheat), widely grown in the wide expanses of the Rhône valley.
The domaine is situated just north of the village of Vacqueyras, north of Carpentras in the southern Rhône Valley , and in the lee of the Dentelles de Montmirail - a series of jagged edged hills

The flagship wines are Vacqueyras AC based predominantly on Grenache & Syrah grapes. These wines (and there are several different cuvées) are characterised by their velvety smoothness: "A pallet of red fruits, a velvety feminine wine" The 2004 Tresor du Poete was chosen as a favourite in the 2007 Le guide Hachette des vins, probably the best independent annual guides to French wines.

The domaine also produces a fabulous GIGONDAS AC l'Oustau Fauquet from a plot higher up the foothills of the Dentelles de Montmirail mountains. This is an extraordinarily rich concentrated spicy wine which has won many accolades. including a 93/100 rating from Robert Parker in 2007 and Gold Medals in Paris. A warning though - this is not a wine for the faint-hearted - a wine to be sipped rather than glugged - one of my earlier tasting notes was "drink wit spoon!" Gigondas is a blend of classic Rhone grapes: grenache, syrah and mouvèdre - but older vines and the addition of the Mourvedre add a further dimension of complexity and depth.

Côtes du Rhône AC wines (red and rosé) are also produced, and these are characterised by the same high quality and intensity of flavour as the Vacqueyras and Gigondas Wines, and are desgined to be drunk a little younger.

The southern Rhône is dominated by a wide flat valley floor, which is intensively planted with vines. However, the better wines come from the slopes and hills on the valley sides, where the soils, drainage and aspect produce wines with more character and maturity. There are several levls of appellation - the generic Côtes-du-Rhône AC, Côtes du Rhône Villages AC (from any of the "named" villages), specific named villages e.g. Côtes du Rhône-Rasteau AC, and then separate appellations based on specific villages - e.g. Vacqueyras AC, Gigondas AC, Chateauneuf-du-Pape AC.

UK Stockists include House of Townend (Hull) for Vacqueyras.

There is a small tasting room and visitors are welcome Monday- Saturday from October to Easter, and daily for the rest of the year - very friendly welcome - see map

Contact details: Domaine la Fourmone, Roger Combe et Filles
Route de Bollène, 84190 VACQUEYRAS - France

Tel : +33 (0) 4 90 65 86 05
Fax: + 33 (0) 4 90 65 87 84

Email : contact@fourmone.com

Website: www.domaine-la-fourmone.com