2006 Cotes du Roussillon Bila Haut V.I.T

The inaugural vintage of this cuvee, Chapoutier’s 2006 Cotes du Roussillon Villages Latour de France v.i.t offers the nose and taste buds sweet cherry, black raspberry, and dark chocolate in abundance. Roasted meat, saline, soy-like savor, and accents of black pepper, herbs, and crushed stone bring fascination to a palate performance that seems to optimize the uncanny ability of Chapoutier’s Roussillon reds to combine richness and density with vivacity and sheer refreshment such as one seldom expects in wines of this alcoholic size and ripeness of flavor. Not that there is a hint of heat or roughness from the alcohol here, nor in any of the other Chapoutier offerings I tasted from 2006 and 2007. There is purity, almost a sense of transparency in this wine that is amazing: every element stands in relief, and without any impression of blurring, rusticity, or thickness, even as it finishes with a startlingly firm grip. I don’t doubt this will be worth following for a decade and probably longer. 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! For reviews of other Roussillon Chapoutier projects, please see under Agly Brothers as well as Chapoutier. Importer: H. B. Wine Merchants, New York, NY; tel. (917) 402-0456