A Taste of the Languedoc
Harry Woolfson, Les Bluffeurs Wine Club

1. Domaine de la Grangette, Michel Moret, Picpoul de Pinet AOP, 2011
Quite viscous; good, quite tropical fruit; decent acid; mouth filling. Finish of caramel. Lovely; clean. An ex-IBM exec! (13%)
€8.23 

2. Chateau Pech Celeyran, Nicolas de St. Exupery, La Clape IGP,Viognier, 2011
Very aromatic; floral. Good fizz, great fruit - a touch of Gewurtz on the palate. Harvested at night, refrigerated equipment. Very nice. (12.5%)
€7.95

3. Domaine de l'Arjolle, Teisserenc Brothers, Equilibre, Caux IGP, 2011
Nettles and cat's pee. "Unsubtle"; in your face. Eases off in the glass and gets a lot better. Decent fruit and great fizz. The Sauignon Blanc totally overpowers the Viognier. (12%)
€8.86

4. Domaine de l'Arjolle, Teisserenc Brothers, Meridienne Oaked Rosé, Caux IGP, 2011  
Serious nose; quite Pinot Noir. Oaked; will develop an orange marmalade taste as it gets more integrated and great with spicy prawns. Oily. Very, very nice.  13% alc.
€11.08

Spicy, atern, a tad medicinal. Way too young and not my cup of tea. Syrah, Grenache, Mourvedre.

6. Chateau Pech Celeyran, Nicolas de St. Exupery, Cuvée Celeste, La Clape IGP, 2011
At a lower altitude and very hot. Good tannins, alcohol burn but not too badly, fruity, lovely. Thought it might be worth leaving a few years but, sadly, the tannins became more dominant on the glass so.... Syrah, Grenache, Mourvedre again. 14% alc.
€10.65

7. Domaine de l'Arjolle, Teisserenc Brothers, Paradoxe, Caux IGP, 2011 
Quite a lot of tannins but loads of fruit;somewhat burnt. Fourteen months in new barrels. Quite lively; fruitcake, ripeness - maybe a bit of a hole mid-palate; needs some years. Syrah 40%; Merlot 25%; Cab franc 25%;  Grenache 10%. 14% alc.
€13.35

8. Chateau de Raissac, Gustave Viennet, Terra Incognita, Liberon/Beziers IGP 2010
Inky, viscous. Alcohol predominates, giving too much sweetness.Good fruit, good tannins, fresh, well-made. Vineyard developed from a stretc of garrigue; mostly Syrah. Quite nice but, again, needs time.  15%
€15.20

9. Chateau de Raissac, Gustave Viennet, Cuvee Gustave Fayet,, Liberon/Beziers VdP 2007
Really deep; huge extract. Overpowering fruitcake but somewhat synthetic. Good mouthfeel, smooth tannins, freat extract; leggy. Bitter almonds. Big brute; nice but lacks finesse. Will improve. Only barely got a half star. 14.5%.
€11.05

10. Domaine Terre Georges, Anne-Marie and Roland Coustal, Quintessence, Minervois AOC, 2009
Burnt Rhône. Great clean frui and some alcohol sweetness. Lovely, fresh, fruity, clean, a little smooth tannin. Yum!14.5%
€11.08

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