Tasting Notes
Wine Advocate 94-97
The 2014 Cotes du Roussillon V I T (Latour de France Visitare Interiore Terrae) is shockingly good. Harvest September 28, and a 60/40 blend of Grenache and Syrah, aged in equal parts concrete tank and demi-muid, it exudes finesse and elegance in its perfumed raspberry, black raspberry, dried flower and violet-laced bouquet. The palate doesn’t lose a beat either and has full-bodied richness, a seamless, sexy texture and stunning purity of fruit. I’m hoping it shows this well from bottle! These latest releases from Michel Chapoutier are all superb. At the lower price points, it’s hard to beat the Marius releases, and while fruit-forward and geared for early consumption, they’re far from simple fruit bombs and have real class. The Agly Brothers releases, which are a collaboration between Michel and Ron Laughton of Jasper Hill in Heathcote, Australia, seem to have hit another level of quality, with these 2013s and 2014s the best yet. Unfortunately, these are made in tiny quantities and are hard to find in the market. Nevertheless, even at $50, they remain solid values given the quality. As to the Bila Haut releases, these continue to be tweaked, and the team here is slowly reducing the amount of Carignan in the blends (the same is true for Agly Brothers releases). It’s yet to be determined if these latest releases are better than the stunning 2011s and 2012s, but they’re certainly as good, and I think the cooler nature of the vintage worked beautifully for these wine. It’s not in bottle yet, but I think the 2013 Lesquerde RI might be the greatest wine made from the region to date. The team here also loves their 2014s, and while I wasn’t able to taste extensively from the vintage, these barrel samples were at the top of what I tasted. While the top releases are made in miniscule quantities, the lower-tier releases, particularly the L’Esquerda and Occultum Lapidem, should be readily available and allow readers to buy a bottle and taste for themselves before buying more. I think these are brilliant wines.
