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$56.95
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RR 96
WA 93
France
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South of France
In stock,
1
available
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List $65.00
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96+ points Rhone Report: "Deeper in color and much more dense, reserved, and even backwards, the 2009 Bosc Negre is a slightly longer term prospect and is a blend of 80% Mourvèdre and 20% Grenache that had the Mourvèdre aged all in new barrel and the Grenache in tank. Meaning 'black woods' and named after a densely packed group of trees near the Mourvèdre plot, it delivers a spectacular mix of crème de cassis, currants, pepper, roasted meat, saline-like minerality, and hints of chocolate on the nose that is both rich and lively at the same time. Opening up over the evening and gaining additional floral and underbrush like qualities - all of which contribute to its overall lively, clean feel -- it is a serious, full-bodied effort that displays gorgeous textural richness that’s paired with ripe, polished tannin, integrated acidity, and an overall seamless, elegant profile. Give bottles another 2-3 years in the cellar, and then enjoy over the following 12-15 years or more. It is an impressive bottle of wine that will stand toe to toe with the top Mourvèdre dominated Châteauneuf-du-Papes and Bandols. (Mar 2013)"
93 points David Schildknecht (Wine Advocate): "[$65 list] Puech-Haut’s new, all-Mourvedre bottling 2009 Coteaux du Languedoc Saint-Drezery Bosc Negre strikes me as supporting the reasonable hypothesis that this grape is especially well-suited to an expressive performance if one’s going to let one’s fruit ascend to 15% alcohol. Plum preserves and chocolate laced with bay and brown spices make for a head-turning nose, and are joined by roasted red meat character on a sumptuous, fine-grained, yet persistently juicy palate. Whereas the corresponding Recantou and Cante Lebre bottlings tended toward the confectionary, there is a sense of freshness as well as transparency to carnal and stonily mineral elements to the rich fruit on display here. And whereas a certain superficial note of toasted oak also crept into the aforementioned bottlings, here any such impression is integrated to the point of background enhancement, and the wine finishes with sappy, energetic persistence, without any impression of heat or drying. This received more frequent racking (including rack-and-return during fermentation) than the other Puech-Haut 2009s so as to ward-off reduction and enhance textural richness, and it has worked. Cambie maintains that 'at the beginning of its elevage, this was quite introverted...but then, Bandol, too, often needs a long elevage. Like Grenache, Mourvedre is less forgiving in the cellar than is Syrah, but in the end, you have a wine of more fat yet more elegance.' I can’t disagree, and it will be fascinating to follow this beauty over the next decade or so, especially in comparison with certain of the more flamboyant Bandols or Mourvedre-heavy Chateauneufs. (Aug 2011)"
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$56.95
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RR 95
WA 91
France
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South of France
In stock,
5
available
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95 points Rhone Report: "Named after the oak tree (Quercus is the Latin word for oak) that’s planted in the plot of Grenache that the cuvee comes from, the 2009 Quercus is a jaw dropping good, 100% Grenache effort that spent 16 months all in tank. Fermented with stems and seeing no oak whatsoever, it represents a naked expression of pure Grenache and offers up an exuberantly sweet, heady array of kirsch and strawberry liqueur, spice-box, sappy wild herbs, and red licorice to go with a seamless, elegant, and incredibly polished mouth feel. Ripe, voluptuous, and yet almost weightless on the palate, with layers of sweet fruit, ripe tannin, and a clean, focused finish, it is already upfront and drinking beautifully. Count me a fan and it has more than a passing resemblance to the old vine Grenache cuvee from Clos St. Jean. It blossoms with air and showed beautifully over the multiple days I had the bottle open. Enjoy it over the coming 10-15 years or more. (Mar 2013)"
91 points David Schildknecht (Wine Advocate): "[$65 list] Puech-Haut’s 2009 Coteaux du Languedoc Saint-Drezery Quercus -- named for a prominent oak tree at this spot in their vineyards, not for oak employed in elevage -- represents their exploration of pure Grenache, vinified without de-stemming. Violet and rose petal mingle with scents of strawberry and black raspberry preserves, whose sweet juices richly and caressingly coat the palate, tinged with tamarind and licorice and underlain by a saliva-inducing impression of salted roast meat pan drippings such as I would more have expected from a Syrah- or Mourvedre-dominated cuvee. What’s more, there is a faintly but insistently tart edge to the berries here that offers a sense of excitation. That said, these virtues have to work against considerable sense of alcoholic heat in an otherwise luxuriant finish, even though we’re dealing here with a grape in general notoriously welcoming of high must weights. It should be fascinating to see how this develops over the next several years, but I’m not going to try to handicap it beyond then until I see for myself. (Aug 2011)"
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