2005 Rancio

The Puig-Parahy 2005 Rancio suggests black raspberry preserves with a faintly oxidative overtone. Even more superficially sweet than its 2009 counterpart, it nevertheless preserves a welcome core of primary juiciness, while cocoa, black tea, and brown spices lend interest and allure. The dry reds and signature fortified wines from Georges Puig's estate southeast of Perpignan are each in their way remarkable, the former for value, and the latter in any number of respects - for more about which, please consult my detailed account in issue 183. Suffice it to reiterate on this occasion that whether one of the ancient Puig-Parahy Rancio bottlings (rendered from Grenache with some Carignan) reflects the remnants of just a single small barrel; one or more barrels that are still being topped-off from reserves in glass or tank; or the contents of such a tank, Puig vouches for the vintage integrity of each. Precisely because of these differences just noted, one cannot reliably predict from the vintage how "old" a given wine will taste, since its degree of oxidative evolution is in significant part a function of where the wine has been held or whether it has been refreshed from stocks held in tank. Once these wines are bottled, I suspect that they can live-on almost indefinitely - so I have not attempted to assess "drinkability windows" - and after opening, they are extremely resistant to deterioration. Even the oldest Rancio wines of this estate are periodically bottled and put on the market, so those which I most recently tasted can be acquired (though I was still awaiting U.S. retail price indicators when this report went to print) and my notes on them are thus of commercial significance. Incidentally, while I grant that it is a bit odd to refer to even some young sweet wines here as "rancio," there is no better alternative, since for all of their high quality not to mention the long history of such wines in this sector of Roussillon and at this estate of such wines, they do not conform to any official present-day appellation. Jack Siler Selections (various importers), Paris; fax 011 33 1 45 45 23 59