James Beard wrote—rather succinctly—that Rhône Valley wines have a “rare quality about them which is always pleasant, usually satisfying, and sometimes great.” I agree that Rhône wines are pleasant. There is a comforting warmth to them. They seem to smile up at you as all the solar energy soaked up during the growing season radiates out of the glass. I also agree that they are usually satisfying. They slake my thirst while at the same time are more substantial and filling than any liquid has a right to be. Pleasantly satisfied is a good feeling after a glass or two, but when a wine is great, that’s something different altogether. 
     The experience of a great Rhône wine goes beyond sunniness and refreshment and into a realm inhabited by wine writers a tad more grandiloquent than Mr. Beard. I like Alexis Lichine’s description of the wines as “big, rough, and heady, with a strong, almost pungent perfume, and they are tamed only by long imprisonment in the bottle.” This describes Serge Férigoule’s 2012 Vacqueyras to a T. Its heady aroma evokes ripe fruit and savory herbs. Each chewy, sumptuous sip coats your palate and stains your teeth. Here is a solid wine, rooted in the earth like a gnarled old tree and possessing its own rough-hewn beauty. The 2012 vintage has already been imprisoned in bottle for a while. I’d suggest buying several bottles, releasing a couple, and leaving the others to serve out their sentences in your cellar for a few more years.