2011 Chapoutier "Bila-Haut" COTES DU ROUSSILLON VILLAGES (South Central France)

A fleshy, meaty, soft, wine that is full of character and modestly priced.  Fantastic cookout wine.

Dark blackish ruby with a slight violet tinge.  Animated, ripe nose of meaty notes, ripe blackberries, and a combination of spice cake and warm crushed rocks and sandstone.  Mouthfilling flavors, but fairly easy-going texture.  Full body and lots of fine-grained tannins.  Loads of pure blackberry skin fruit along with a very clingy, roasted herb/iodiney, minerals component that clings to the sides of the mouth. Long, pure finish.  B+/A-.  Was $12.99 at Whole Foods in Arlington/Clarendon.  Imported by HB Wine Merchants, NY, NY.

2010 "Les Heretiques" Red (Herault, Southern France)

From the owners of the respected Chateau d'Oupia in the Languedoc region, this cheap blend of Carignane and Syrah is a young, zesty, and well-made weekday dinner wine.  If drunk in 2012, however, give it some air time, as the nose and flavors are quite closed at first.

Deep, dark, ruby/violet.  Not especially complex on the nose, but with enticing aromas of equal parts clean, stony minerality and ripe but tangy dark berries.  Lively, tangy berry fruit hits the palate first, then broadens out and shows a soft texture and nice ripeness.  A little tannin in the clean-as-a-whistle finish.  Just a dynamite dinner accompaniment at a bargain price.  B+.  Was $10.99 at Whole Foods between Wilson and Clarendon Blvds in Arlington.  Imported by one of my favorites, Louis/Dressner Selections (which is why I even tried such a cryptically-labeled wine in the first place).

2008 Chateau St. Jean de la Gineste CORBIÈRES "Vieilles Vignes" (Southern France)

A wine a geologist could love.  Wicked gravelly and stony.

Dark blackish ruby/garnet.  Intensely gravelly dark stony nose, with some dark berry fruit underneath.  Peppery, intensely stony flavors as well, with lots of cling and bite.  Good acidity and some tannic structure.  Shows loads of terroir but not a whole lot of friendly fruit.  Needs rustic food; not to be sipped by itself.  B-.  Was $11.99 at Houston Wine Merchant.  A Becky Wasserman Selection.

(Sorry, 2009 depicted)

2007 Mas Champart SAINT-CHINIAN "Causse du Bousquet" (Languedoc, Southern France)

A really good and distinctive wine at its peak.*  65% Syrah, 15% Grenache; 20% Mourvedre.


Completely saturated black color with ruby highlights.  Deep, complex nose of blackberry compote, toasty, saline-tinged sandstone, and roast pork.  Mouthfilling, yet not as heavy as the color would lead you to expect.  It has intensely minerally/stony flavbors enveloping a core of very ripe cassis fruit.  Loads of tannin but it is so fine-grained that the textural impression is soft.  Very stone/minerally finish.  Surprisingly good acidity for a wine from this region (that's not to say the acidity is high, but that it's not too low).  Nicely balanced.  A-.  Imported by Kermit Lynch, I got this from Zachys.com several months ago for $16/bottle.


*  I say "at its peak" because while it was still good the second night, it started to noticeably deteriorate the third night, even though I had it vacuum sealed.  That generally indicates to me that a wine is at or near peaking.

2009 Chapoutier "Bila-Haut" COTES DU ROUSSILLON-VILLAGES (Southern France)

Many wines from this hot, arid region have historically been chunky, low acid, earthy and dull-fruited.  Recently, however, there has been an up-tick in quality as lots of youthful growers has begun tending their vineyards more carefully and organically, and bottling their own wines, rather than selling fruit to a co-op or larger negociant.  And some of the more respected Rhone negociant/growers (like Chapoutier) have ventured west as well.

This Grenache, Syrah, and old vine Carignan blend is one of the most elegant, balanced Cotes du Roussillon Villages I've ever had.

Nearly saturated, luxurious black ruby/plasma color.  Rich, smoky, plummy, gravelly nose.  Mouthfilling flavors of blackberry, smoky cocoa, and stones.  Full-bodied, and with substantial but refined tannins, this wine has a balanced, long finish.  Very nice indeed.  A-.  I got this for $16.99 at Houston Wine Merchant on South Shepherd.