2005 Vin de Pays de l'Herault

The 2005 Grange des Peres red leads with the raw red meat, plum paste, chocolate, and saline, sea spray-like elements of Mourvedre and Syrah. The palate impression here is enormously rich and sweetly-ripe in its expression of plum preserve, cassis, and chocolate, yet underlain by such a wealth of savory elements that it is impossible to address more closely without resorting to nakedly carnal adjectives and to babbling about “minerality.” Impressions of black tea, coconut, and tobacco add further complexity. This exhibits a polished, plush texture and an energetic vivacity rare among Languedoc wines of its vintage, and should be worth holding for a decade or more. Laurent Vaille’s 2007 components had not yet been blended when I visited him in December. The Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Mourvedre each were sensationally concentrated and highly expressive, promising one of the finest Grange des Peres red bottlings ever. All of these grapes were enormously ripe in flavor already by mid September, and while that entailed alcohol levels of 15-16%, the young component wines evinced no heat or harshness. Another reason to queue early for the 2007 is that quantities in 2006 are minuscule. In fact, marauding wild boar so devastated his crop of white, that when I visited, Vaille was wrestling with the issue of how or even whether to market it. Importer: Kermit Lynch Wine Merchant, Berkeley, CA; tel. (510) 524-1524; also a Daniel Johnnes Selection, imported by Michael Skurnik Wines, Inc., Syosset, NY; tel. (516) 677-9300