2011 Cotes du Roussillon Bila Haut L'esquerda

The Bila-Haut 2011 Cotes du Roussillon-Villages Lesquerde L’Esquerda –– for more about whose sources and vinification consult my review in this report of the 2012 – offers cherry, strawberry and rhubarb mingled with Ceylon tea and garlanded with fennel frond, wisteria and violet, making for head-turning aromatic harmony and succulent presence on a polished palate. Without the same saline savor as its ostensibly lesser sibling but with sweeter, purer fruit; yet-greater textural allure; and a more strikingly lasting florality, this is going to be a joy to follow through at least 2020. Michel Chapoutier’s Roussillon domaine – for further details on which, consult my report in issue 183 – has garnered well-earned praise as a beacon of Roussillon quality, and while the recent dismissal of this estate’s original winemaker, Gilles Troullier, can scarcely have left either the affected parties or any lovers of wine happy, I suspect that Chapoutier will find a way to maintain Bila-Haut’s position near the apex of regional quality. (For more about this change, and an account of Troullier’s own domaine wines, see under his name in this report.) The 2012 hail that afflicted Maury also ravaged Lesquerde, reducing total production volume at Bila-Haut significantly; and this scourge – along with the generally vine-stressful ripening pattern of the vintage – also influenced the percentage of Syrah (higher) and the quality of tannin (lower) in Chapoutier’s reds. But then, it’s almost unfair to those Bila-Haut 2012 reds to have to be tasted alongside their 2011 counterparts, which offer amazing quality and value even by the quite remarkable standards set at this estate. As for Bila-Haut’s “little” white from 2012, that wine is in a class by itself – how did they do it?! (In addition to the collaboration with Jasper Hill owner-vintner Ron Laughton of Victoria, Australia that is Agly Brothers – whose latest releases are reviewed in this report – Chapoutier has once again rendered Banyuls under his own name and is also bottling inexpensive wines sourced in part from Roussillon under the label “Marius,” releases reviewed in this report under those names.) Importer: H. B. Wine Merchants, New York, NY; tel. (917) 402-0456