Thursday, June 14, 2012

92-94 Points from Robert Parker and only $11.99

BACK IN STOCK - another 28 cases!



Amazing value....
2010 Bila Haut Haut Cotes de Roussillon Villages les Vignes de la Haut...$11.99
"These Chapoutier wines are sometimes reviewed by my colleagues David Schildknect in his Languedoc-Roussillon report and Lisa Perrotti-Brown in her reviews of Australian wines, so I will just list the wines, my score, and the region from which they emerge. They are of very high quality and deserve readers’ attention. Hopefully my prose has convinced more than a handful of readers to try these remarkable wines from one of the most fascinating and compelling personalities in the entire wine world, and one dedicated to the highest quality."
Rated 92-94/100 Robert Parker, The Wine Advocate


Also in stock...
2009 Bila Haut Haut Cotes de Roussillon Villages les Vignes de la Haut...$10.99  

The 2009 Cotes du Roussillon-Villages Les Vignes de Bila-Haut represents a tank-raised blend of Grenache, Carignan, and Syrah from gneiss and schist sites in various parts of the Agly Valley - to that extent like its earlier counterparts - but with the addition of fruit grown on granite in Lesquerde, thus preserving this cuvee's role as a collaboration across the estate's range of sites. Blueberry in fresh and distilled form; fennel and licorice; almond and cherry pit; crushed stone and peat entertain nose and palate, with glyceral richness helping to ameliorate the considerable grain of tannin, and leading to a finish of satisfying length, if not the energy and impeccable balance that characterized the 2007 rendition. This excellent value should drink well for at least the next 2-3 years. (Unfortunately, I was unable to taste the 2008, of which the domaine itself could not find a bottle.)"
Rated 89/100 David Schildknecht, The Wine Advocate

More about the wines
Michel Chapoutier’s outpost in Roussillon – begun in 1993 and moved into its spacious current facilities in 2000 – operates under the immediate direction of exceptionally talented winemaker Gilles Troullier. With around 150 acres and more than 30 parcels of largely old vines under contract (including some exciting new material in 2008) this is a major source for some of the most carefully crafted wines and among the finest values in the region. It is also one of many French addresses where there has been a recent move in the direction of larger barrels (especially demi-muids) and to more sophisticated forms of concrete, and a corresponding de-emphasis of stainless steel tanks and (225-liter) barriques. Troullier opines that after six years of biodynamic regimen on these wines (which includes working many of the parcels by horse) there has recently been a “crescendo in quality.” Without hazarding an opinion on its causes, that crescendo certainly had my nose and palate ringing when I left here!
"Michel Chapoutier's Roussillon domaine...has taken on considerable additional acreage since I filed that last report, resulting in among other things a fascinating white cuvee in what had previously been an all-red portfolio, and the inclusion of more fruit - in black as well as white - from spectacularly-situated high-elevation, granite-rich, late-ripening sites in Lesquerde, well to the west of Latour-de-France. Gilles Troullier continues to direct vinification as well as viticulture (here biodynamic) like the seasoned maestro that he is. With few exceptions, the wines sing with clarity, purity, and complexity, not to mention performing well above what on the basis of price (save for that of the "v.i.t." cuvee) would deceptively appear to be their station."

--David Schildknecht, The Wine Advocate

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