2005 Coteaux du Languedoc Le Bois de Perie

The d’Auzieres 2005 Coteaux du Languedoc le Bois de Perie smells of ripe cherry, coconut, vanilla, and resin. Smoky and saline notes mingle with the rich fruit and pungent, resinous herbs on the palate, and the wine finishes with satisfying persistence but a faint hint of heat, and without the luscious fresh fruit or brightness that characterizes the estate’s best Les Eclats bottlings. Irene Tolleret and her likewise oenologist husband have since 2003 been cultivating the classic Rhone varieties in “shards” (“les Eclats”) of quartzite- and iron-laced limestone and a breezy location that is in all but name Pic Saint-Loup (and may soon be re-classified). This cool site makes for expressions of Syrah more akin to the Northern Rhone than to most of the Languedoc, even when the wines’ alcohol is allowed to go significantly higher than 14% (which so far in this estate’s brief history has not been often). Imported by Jeffrey Davies Signature Selections, Bordeaux; tel. 011 33 556 081 954