2007 Cotes du Roussillon Villages Segna de Cor

In bottle since July, the 2007 Cotes du Roussillon Villages Segna de Cor – Roc des Anges’ palindromally-named second wine, which favors her Grenache and young Syrah vines and is raised entirely in tank – is initially slightly reductive but opens to display cassis and plum tinged with coriander and palate impression that is polished and juicy, if restrained in regard to sweeter manifestations of black fruits. A suggestion of meat stock, bitter notes of fruit pit, a bite of black pepper, and the local schist-licking wet stone common to so many Gallet reds, inform the finish, along with a very faintly drying note of tannin. Ironically for a second wine, this really needed another 6-9 months in bottle when I tasted it, and should then be enjoyable for 2-3 years. Marjorie Gallet’s eight year old “Rock of Angels” estate has vacated its dilapidated stone cuverie on a hillside near Tautavel for a spacious and newly restored cellar in the center of Montner, near her vines. And there are more vines in 2008, including some amazing old Grenache Gris and Carignan Blanc that will probably inform a second white cuvee. Supplies of new Stockinger foudres and used barriques that resulted from a cold call to Jean-Francois Coche are complimenting Marjorie Gallet’s more sophisticated mechanical equipment and increasingly savvy and refined vinification. As if that weren’t enough, the Gallet’s tiny new Domaine Les Terres de Fagaya offers Stephane a chance to utilize the special talents for Maury that he honed while at Mas Amiel, and their three inaugural 2008 cuvees will turn heads. Without a doubt, 2008 (which yielded a “generous” – by estate standards –17 hectolier per hectare) will be a watershed vintage at Le Roc des Anges, with whites of startling, shimmering clarity and palate-staining, energetic reds. But meantime, there were three vintages for me to catch up and report on. Importer: A Thomas Calder Selection (various importers), Paris; fax 011-33-1-46-45-15-29