Walls: Vacqueyras 2015 vs 2016 – how are they drinking now?

When most winemakers retire, their most important legacy is the wines they made, tucked away in cellars around the world.

But Serge Férigoule of Domaine le Sang des Cailloux leaves more than just his superlative red and white Vacqueyras.

Diary of a winemaker

Every day of his working life, Serge took notes of climatic observations from his vineyards, filling stacks of notebooks. They will provide an invaluable insight into a changing climate for generations to come.

Scroll down to see Matt Walls’ 22 top-scoring Vacqueyras wines from 2015 and 2016

They’re proving useful already. Before meeting me to discuss the differences between 2016 and 2015, his son Frédéri, who recently took over the estate, was easily able to look up the differences between these two exceptional years.

Click here for the full list of 2015 and 2016 Vacqueyras wines tasted

It provided some valuable context for my recent tasting of 89 wines, roughly half of which were from 2015 and half from 2016.

Two excellent vintages, but stylistically different, and following different rhythms.

‘In 2015, we entered the dry period,’ says Frédéri. It was the year that marked the start of a six-year stretch of unusually hot, dry weather.

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Before 2015, annual rainfall was typically 800 to 900mm per year, but since then levels have largely dropped and temperatures have risen.

Vacqueyras doesn’t always perform well in hot, dry years. There is clay close to the surface, but dig down and you quickly come to deep, free-draining gravels.

Hydric stress comes quickly, meaning alcohol levels rise and acidity drops.

‘This is why we converted to biodynamics,’ says Frédéri. Although it helps, it’s no remedy.

Climatic conditions

The heat and drought were particularly extreme in 2018, leading to wines lacking freshness and depth in Vacqueyras. The same can be said to some extent for 2019, with some harsh, hot-headed wines. However, both 2015 and 2016 fared better.

In 2015, Serge measured a total of 650mm of rain at the estate. Relatively low rainfall, ‘but it rained at the right moments,’ says Frédéri, and their vines didn’t suffer from hydric stress.

It was a very early harvest; they started picking whites on 24 August and reds on 26 August.

The 2016 vintage was even drier, with just 550mm of precipitation. In September and August, it didn’t rain at all, but ‘what saved the vintage were little rains of 20 to 30mm’ during the rest of the growing season, says Frédéric.

The two years in question were similar in terms of heat, but there were more grapes in 2016, and they were riper. Serge noted that all varieties delivered one degree of alcohol higher in 2016 than 2015.

How the wine styles compare

These conditions led to quite different balances in the two vintages.

The 2016 vintage in Vacqueyras is clearly very good, with powerful concentration and big structure, making for some long-lived wines.

That said, most are drinking well already thanks to their intense vibrancy. Only a minority need another year or so in bottle, mostly due to bolshy tannins that need further softening. That extra alcohol is starting to show through a little here and there, however – a phenomenon that will only increase over time.

In comparison, the 2015s are noticeably more developed in colour and flavour than the 2016s – more than you might expect for just a year’s difference.

They’ve been quite tough until now, but are beginning to open up, leading with classic strawberry Grenache fruit.

Some still need another couple of years to show their best, and the 2015s will largely outlive the 2016s thanks to their beautiful balance.

Which vintage is drinking better now?

Neither vintage is necessarily better when it comes to red Vacqueyras. If you prefer drinking this style of wine young, I would open the 2016s and enjoy them now.

If you prefer more mature Vacqueyras, the 2016s will be good in time, but the 2015s will offer more satisfying drinking in the long run.

For whites however, there is a clear winner. The 2016s have greater definition and freshness than the 2015s. The 2016s will last longer, too; the rich, opulent 2015s are best drunk now.

Looking ahead

The dry period that Frédéri refers to ended with the difficult 2021 vintage. I predict this is a blip, rather than a return to pre-2015 weather patterns.

But what 2015 and 2016 show is that Vacqueyras can handle it and even thrive. However, the wines of 2018 and 2019 suggest there are limits.

See Matt Walls’ 22 top-scoring Vacqueyras wines from 2015 and 2016:

The wines listed below all scored 93 points or above. 

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