Domaine de la Mordorée · Lirac, Rhône Valley
Lirac · red and black fruit · spice · fine tannin · long · fresh
La Reine des Bois is Domaine de la Mordorée’s emblematic Lirac and gives the 366 a southern Rhône red with both depth and genuine value.
Country
France
Region
Lirac, Rhône Valley
Appellation
Lirac AOC
Grapes
Grenache · Syrah · Mourvèdre
Style
Red
Realistic spend
£22–£32
Budget band: £20–£35
Best moments
A serious southern Rhône red for Christmas, Father’s Day and robust winter food at a very attractive price.
Why this wine matters
The estate farms organically and biodynamically, hand-harvests and sorts the fruit, and uses a Grenache-Syrah-Mourvèdre blend from stony clay-silica soils. It is a particularly good example of how Lirac can deliver Châteauneuf-like seriousness at a lower price.
How it is made
Native yeasts and limited sulphur are used. The fruit is destemmed and crushed, with roughly 15% of the wine matured in barrels and the remainder in tank.
What does it taste like?
Raspberry, blackberry, blueberry and blackcurrant lead into spice, fine tannins and a fleshy but fresh palate with a very long finish.
Serve it well
The domaine recommends 18°C; the 2020 also shows well slightly cooler after a short decant.
If this wine were human…
If Lirac La Reine des Bois were human, it would be serious about the good things, but not about looking serious while enjoying them.
Does any of this sound suspiciously familiar?
Serious about the good things, but not about looking serious while enjoying them. You enjoy discovering that the quietest person at the table is usually the most interesting one.
At dinner, you can rescue an awkward silence with one question and then let everyone else take the credit. Secretly, you are delighted when somebody else spots the detail you were hoping they would notice.
In short: serious about the good things, but not about looking serious while enjoying them. lirac energy, translated into a person.
Purely for fun — this is the wine’s fictional personality, not a psychological reading of yours.
What to eat with it
And the cheese?
Start with this wine and move straight into cheese, or build a whole tasting around it.
Keep exploring
There are 365 more wines where this came from.
This profile is researched against producer or similarly authoritative material. Vintage-specific details are kept separate from the permanent wine identity.
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