TN: Ch.Puech-Haut Languedoc '11...(short/boring)

We had this mystery wine Wed night:

  1. Ch.Puech-Haut Prestige Ad’O: Coteaux du Languedoc (15%; “Place Over Process”; Grenache/Syrah) PhilippeCambie/EricSolomon St.Drezery 2011: Very dark color; slight milk of magnesia very concentrated/ripe/boysenberry/black cherry/blackberry rather toasty/oak quite alcoholic/hot/fumey/over-the-top nose; soft/fat/porky chocolaty/boysenberry/blackberry/jammy/overripe strong toasty/oak huge fruit flavor w/ slight soft/ripe tannins; long concentrated/intense/overripe boysenberry/blackberry/chocolaty/pruney/jammy very soft/fat some toasty/oak rather hot/alcoholic/fumey finish w/ light overripe/soft tannins; a huge wine that is very overripe, lacks structure, and totally uninteresting; for Monktown attourneys only. $22.00 (AV)

A wee BloodyPulpit:

  1. This is a “Prestige” Cuvee, for sale in the USofA only, created by PhilippeCambie & EricSolomon. It states on the back label “Place Over Process”. That’s one of the most laughable statement ever. This wine could have been made in Chateauneuf, Macedonia, Priorat, PasoRobles, Lodi, WallaWalla, China…anywhere. It has none of the structure nor minerality that you expect in the Languedoc…nothing but corpulent/overripe fruit. It is singularly boring and could only be made by PhilippeCambie. This guy is evil personified and makes this kind of wine all over the world. So sad.
    Did I mention I didn’t like this wine?
    Tom

I have not had this one- but its funny- brought a couple last year to a party and they were a HUGE hit with the non wine geek crowd.

Speaking of Macedonia, I had the Solomon/Cambie’d tikves bela voda the other night. Crowd pleasing and fine for a glass, but dull and just about all of your descriptors above would have been appropriate. A blend of two native Macedonian varietals, apparently. Of course the wine had gaudy scores from the WA.

I think he did a pretty decent job w/ the Tikves Rkatsitelli. The Vranac is a pretty typical Cambie red and he has transformed an interesting
indigenous grape into just another international-style btl of soupy goop. Haven’t seen the BetaVoda. Thanks for the head’s up on it, Dave.
Tom

Sounds like the typical Cambie wine with a high WA score.
Last Bottle has another one up right now, the 2009 Calendal Plan de Dieu.
Not surprisingly, wines like this go over well at neighborhood parties where those attending usually buy supermarket wines without thinking much about them.

P Hickner

I’m not a fan of Puech-Haut wines. Too much emphasis on marketing and presentation. Big price-tags to attract a certain kind of bobo customer.

[winner.gif]

RP rated the 2011 and 2012 91 pts. Sad enough. Dunnuck rated the 2012 93 points and used the following: “elegant and thrillingly pure, with first rate aromas of blackberry, fresh plum, licorice and ground herbs, it is decidedly sexy and forward, yet stays perfectly balanced,…”

(bolding mine) excuse me while I laugh and puke

I had a couple glasses of the 2015 Puech Haut ‘Prestige’ [Coteau de Languedoc] with a fondue and a raclette respectively. Maybe not an optimal pairing since a crisp white would likely have been better than a plush red…but I really liked the wine. Very well flavored, deep, and for my tastes the oak seemed ok with all the rest of the stuff going on (and dinner). It’s unabashedly a modern, international wine though. Understanding that enthusiasts may not like this style based on reading about it, I still think people owe it to themselves to try the juice and see what they think personally. I’ve had an older bottle of their ‘Clos du Pic’ bottling in the past and was very impressed with how that aged, so I’d expect this to have some vigor too.

I forgot which vintage, I believe 2009 I tried a bottle a couple of years ago and it was a sugary sweet no. Consequently donated the remaining bottles to my son’s school auction along with 2006 Coudelet de Beaucastel.

Don’t get me wrong, the 2005 Coudelet is drinking very nicely but the 2006, Yech.

The 2015 Closerie du Pic Rouge is a monster of a wine, with deep green notes of sous bois forest floor herbs & evergreens & lichens & pine needles & whatnot.

Full throttle pedal-to-the-metal Parkerized, but very very tasty.