2015 Coteaux du Languedoc La Clape Clos des Truffiers

Tasted blind. Very dark crimson. Not much aromatic expression though a little suggestion of volatile acidity. And on the palate there is some strange sweet and spicy oak. Hungarian? That sort of grip and aromatics anyway. By no means a bad wine. Certainly distinctive and with a beginning, middle and end. Big, bold and bloody. Still with quite a tannic grip though not excessively so. (JR)

Schedule to be bottled shortly after this tasting, the 2015 Clos Des Truffiers will unquestionably be one of the top 1-2 wines in the vintage from the region, if not the entire southern part of France. White truffles, olive tapenade, cured meats, and a huge core of sweet fruit flow to a full-bodied, concentrated, yet elegant, silky version of this cuvée. It's showing even more elegance than I remember from when I tasted it last year, and is going to benefit from 2-3 years of bottle age and keep for two decades.

Similar in style to the 2011, the 2015 Languedoc Clos des Truffières is as always 100% Syrah from a vineyard near Pézenas. Scheduled to be bottled in February or March of 2017, it has sensational notes of blackcurrants, cassis, lead pencil and graphite, with more obvious structure and minerality than the Porte du Ciel. It’s a gorgeous wine that should unquestionably be one of the wines of the vintage.