2006 Côtes du Roussillon Villages

A blend of equal parts Syrah, Mourvedre, and Grenache, aged in 100% new French oak for 18 months, the 2006 Le Clos des Fées sports an inky, completely opaque black color to go with spectacular aromatics of black fruits, dark chocolate, espresso, truffle, violets, and serious minerality on the nose. While this definitely shows some wood, there’s more than enough fruit and depth to handle it. Slightly severe and unyielding on the palate, the wine is medium to full bodied and deeply concentrated, possessing a seamless, pure texture, perfect balance, edgy, masculine structure, and a very long, classic finish. Beautifully done, and given the depth, fruit, and structure, I don’t see any reason this won’t easily age for 15+ years.

The 2006 Cotes du Roussillon Villages Le Clos de Fees represents smells of heliotrope, lily, and pit-laced ripe cherries, grenadine, and wood smoke-tinged scrub. A bit more bitter than sweet on the palate; with the tannins seemingly accentuated by the effect of the wood; faintly oily in texture, and with its primary mineral dimension that of sheer wet stone, this is an altogether more severe and at present less well-integrated wine than its (admittedly, unfinished) 2007 counterpart. A medicinal bitter-sweet cast characterizes the wine’s palate-staining but slightly warm, and more formidable than charming finish. Perhaps this will become more elegant and less severe with a few more years in bottle; I can’t imagine it declining for half a dozen at least. Herve Bizeul practices a ruthlessly controlled viticultural regimen focused on some 130 parcels of selection massale vines in the dramatically rocky, yet clay-permeated limestone environment north of Vingrau, and his pursuit of concentration and purity continues with meticulous selectivity of plots and lots (much of the crop is sold off each year) as well as of clusters and berries. Add to this a fruit-pampering vinification, and the result is wines that have turned heads every bit as much as does the local scenery and brought Bizeul well-deserved recognition as a beacon of Roussillon quality. He is so convinced of the fit between traditional goblet training and the local climate, that he is even head-pruning his young vines of Cabernet Franc, whose profusely floral, chocolaty-rich, yet refined inaugural 2008 vintage will, rest assured, be unlike any other wine from this grape that you have ever tasted. Bizeul is another of those denizens of Roussillon and the Languedoc to have imagined and now perfected a uniquely delicious style of white wine. Bizeul is currently seeking a new importer.