Benchmark tasting - top wines from Priorat, Languedoc, Roussillon and Chateauneuf

I tasted a range of top wines from these areas with my team to help us establish objectives for my own wine. There was surprising disagreement about the qualities of the various wines, but I was clear in my own mind about what I liked and what elements I want to try to incorporate in my own project. Eight people tasted, we all just milled around and did it on our own, in no particular order. There was no formal discussion, voting or scoring, except for my scoring the wines; I only give comments when there were several people who told me they disagreed with my opinion. Very brief notes and very approximate scores.

Priorat:
2012 Familia Ortiz Nit de Nin - Strong smoky nose, better palate, good intense red more than black fruit, good minerality, seems a little alcoholic. My rating 92, Most tasters seemed to like it better.

2012 Clos Erasmus - Better, purer fruit nose than previous. Very pure fruit on the palate with lots of finesse with solidity, and good balance. A tiny hint of oak is not out of place. Very classy. My rating 98.

2012 Terroir al Limit Les Manyes - Intense southern Rhone nose, surprisingly like Chateauneuf-du-Pape. Nice balanced red fruit but less intensity on the palate and not a very long finish. My rating 92, one taster liked it a lot more.

2013 Finca Dofi - Fresh almost minty nose, with mineral (schist) as well. Piquant, fresh, good balance, good black raspberry fruit, very fine but maybe a little lighter in body than expected. My rating 94.

2013 Clos Mogador - Subtle aromas with black cherries and black currants; a good herbal streak in the background adds to the attraction. Again slightly light in body for this class but really fine balance and a long finish. My rating 95.

2013 Clos Erasmus - Harmonious nose with really fine mix of black and red fruits. the palate is long with good balance, mostly black fruit but an intriguing hint of strawberry adds freshness. To me this lacked the solidity of the 2012, but I think most tasters preferred it to the previous vintage. I found the 2012 definitely superior. My rating 95.

France
2013 Clos de Fees ‘Petit Siberie’ - Big open nose, not particularly ripe, diffuse red fruits. Palate is medium bodied with some black fruit, there is some acid at the end, this is very good but not very harmonious and slightly dull. My rating 89, others liked it more but only one taster was raving about it.

2013 Clos de Fees ‘Clos des Fees’ - Equally open aromas but with some lovely floral notes to go with both red and black fruit. The palate is not much bigger, but there is better solidity and excellent intensity of fruit. The finish is long, there is some tannin to resolve but overall really fine. My rating 97. Group split between this and the previous.

2011 Chateau Puech Haut ‘Reboussier’ - Earthy, gravelly red fruit nose. Wonderful palate, solid and smooth, very complete with a dense, fine-grained texture, superb texture. The fruit is now more black, with a strong mineral streak and excellent purity. The finish is long. My rating 98, very mixed reactions from the group, perhaps the most controversial wine of the tasting. My top wine as it has been in other tastings (and in blind tastings with well-known wine writers).

2012 Domaine Lafage Cotes du Roussillon ‘Vignon’ - Very subtle but rich aromas featuring black fruit but a hint of tomato and bacon, like some Chateauneuf was blended in. The palate is a little closed but very fine with good balance, excellent texture and a surprisingly long finish. My rating 96, general agreement, some may have liked it even more.

2012 Chateau La Negly ‘Porte de Ciel’ La Clape- Beautiful black fruit aroma with flowery notes is the best part. The palate seems almost northern Rhone with black cherry Syrah character, but with hints of Grenache adding good breadth. This is excellent but there is something very slightly hollow in the mid-palate that keeps it from an even higher score. My rating 95, a couple of tasters liked it less.

2013 Domaine Gauby ‘La Muntada’ Cotes du Roussillon - Blueberry and blackberry aromas with a floral hint in the background. The palate is more black cherry fruit with some herbal notes, almost conifer notes. This is not particularly rich or broad on the palate but has fine pure fruit. Not the most complex, but a good long finish. My rating 95.

2013 Chateau Puech Haut ‘Clos du Pic’ Pic St Loup - Red and black fruit and garrigue aromas. The texture is superb, solid yet fresh and piquant. The fruit has fine intensity, more black raspberry and black cherry but with red notes as well and a distinct lovely floral component in the background. Outstanding balance and a long finish. My rating 98, generally very well liked.

2012 Clos du Papes Chateauneuf-du-Pape - Excellent aromas are more secondary than the other wines and have distinct bacon - tomato - garrigue that is textbook Chateauneuf. The palate is intense ripe red fruit, the balance is excellent and this is very pure. My rating 97, generally well liked but a few were much less pleased, probably the second most controversial of the tasting.

We tasted other wines that I represent, so no notes on those.’

The average Wine Advocate score for the Priorat wines was 97.8, for the Languedoc and Roussillon wines 95.4. Among our group of tasters, almost all from Roussillon, there was a consensus that the Languedoc and Roussillon wines were overall somewhat better.

Dan Kravitz

Thanks for all the notes, Dan!!

I admit that I have not tasted any of the listed wines. However, most of the Spanish ones are bottles that I would have liked to have tried in the past, as they often received positive write-ups elsewhere.

As for Languedoc-Rousillon, the region is brimming with wines I have never even heard of, yet would like to try. Then there’s Gauby’s unique soils, the esteemed Clos du Papes:neutral_face:

Very interesting; it seems like most of these aren’t widely available in the US. Will you be carrying them?

Well, being the smartass here, I, personally, would call it

Clos des Papes

flirtysmile

And I love it!

Cheers
Christian

Dan,

just read your post again - tell us more about your wine project, or is that somewhere in a seperate thread?

Cheers
Christian

to Michael Chang,

I do not import any of these wines. I do not initiate any posts on wines I represent.

All of the Spanish wines in the tasting were sourced in the U.S. The primary importer of Priorat wines is Eric Solomon (his wife is the owner and I believe in the past was the hands-on winemaker of Clos Erasmus). Sorry, but I do not remember the importers for the other wines.

Most of the French wines are sold in the U.S. Puech Haut and Lafage are also imported by Eric Solomon. Unfortunately, as far as I know, the 2011 Puech Haut ‘Reboussier’, pure old vine Carignan, was produced only in 2011 and was not imported. Another reason that these wines are all rather hard to find is that they are produced in small or tiny quantities.

To Christian Zeitler: My project is a vineyard named Domaine Cabirau. It is in Roussillon and I produce a Cotes du Roussillon and a Maury Sec (this is a new Appellation for dry red wines established in 2011).

Thanks to all who have expressed an interest.


Dan Kravitz

I had half a bottle of the 2001 Chateau Puech Haut ‘Clos du Pic’ [Pic St Loup] last night. It was just stunning. Mostly syrah, maybe a dollop of some less noble grapes in there. The wine is still incredibly dark, no bricking, a nose of licorice and smoky ham. I kept trying to get the SO to try some, but after one sip, she refused. Even without telling her what it was, she didn’t like it - she almost always dislikes Rhone-esque Syrah. This just kept getting better in the glass so I expect the rest of the bottle to be even better today. The label describes the great amounts of labor that go into it, as well as the terroir. Amazing overkill for a hamburger / tomato salad dinner. I’ll grant it is a modern, fleshy internationally styled wine, but it’s great, and has developed very well. Whatever wood might have been involved is all soaked up by now. I thought this was from Rostaing, but was confused – some other consultants are involved.

I find after reading Ms. George’s book on French country wines that I’m quite enjoying exploring these lesser known AOC.

PS: added a couple hours later, finishing the last half of the 14.5% abv bottle. Heavy stuff. Not a quaffer, nor summer wine. The bottle is also ridiculously heavy, almost like a Champagne bottle in its thickness/weight. It holds up well on day 2, but I think I liked it better on opening. Still I wouldn’t have concerns about aging further if desired. Quite flamboyant.

Nice–thank you! Had, and totally enjoyed, that Gauby wine–according to my wife’s trip diary–in France back in May.

Dan,

I hope you do not mind but I forwarded a link to this post to Eric and Daphne. I am sure they will appreciate it. Like your crew I tend to the 2013 Clos Erasmus but both are great.

Kelly

Good line for Languedoc but I don’t think I’d consider those the top cuvées. Barral, Grange des Pères, Peyre Rose, the top cuvées from some domaines like Spoutnik from Christophe Peyrus, Mas de la Séranne, and a few others… Anyway, tastes and all that.

Alain