The Cellar: Value in the Langue’
Friday, March 20, 2015
One of my absolute favorite regions for value red wines is a region called Languedoc located in southwestern France. A lot has happened in this sundrenched region in the past 20 years. While the emphasis on quantity over quality caused the region’s reputation to take a hit in the late 1990’s and early 2000’s, increased international competition, along with an overall shift in wine consumers taste is forcing winemakers to turn their attention back to what is important; quality.
The Region.
‘Languedoc’ is a relatively newly established (2007) sub-region of Languedoc-Roussillon - one of France’s largest and most diverse wine regions, which stretches from the Spanish border and northeast along the Mediterranean coast all the way up to Montpellier. While ‘Languedoc’ covers the same area as ‘Languedoc-Roussillon’ the new appellation only allows for red, whites and rosé wines – no bubbles or dessert wines here. The many different grapes that are grown here, as well as the many different sub-soils and microclimates makes it difficult to make blanket statements or generalize about this regions wines. One thing most vineyards do share however is a consistently warm, often hot, climate with very little precipitation - great conditions for growing most grapes. The next two week’s reviews will feature locally available Languedoc wines both of which are delicious, as well as great values.GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLAST
2011 ‘Languedoc’ Hecht & Bannier
Gregory Hecht and François Bannier are what are called négociants, which means that they are winemakers who purchase their fruit from regional growers, as opposed to growing the grapes themselves. A typical négociant will then blend, age, bottle and label the wine for export or wholesale distribution under the company brand name. ‘Hecht & Bannier’ founded their joint wine project in 2002 with the purpose of making quality wines that reflected the ‘terroir’ of the Languedoc region, while still being a good value. Their 2011 Languedoc is exactly one such wine. The wine is a typical regional red blend made primarily from Syrah with Grenache and Carignan –all organic grapes - sourced from three different sub-regions including Saint Chinian, Terrasses du Larzac (in Languedoc) and Vallée de l’Agly (in Roussillon). After blending the wine was aged in porous concrete tanks allowing the different nuances to come together.
This is juicy and fruit driven wine – a wine one would normally expect (given its structure and the modern wine drinker’s taste) to have been treated with oak. Thankfully this wine hasn’t. In this case the lack of oak has kept the wines acidity (freshness) and minerality (savoriness) alive making for an absolutely delicious wine. Rich dark fruit dominate the palate but the lingering acidity keeps everything fresh. Herbs and chocolate notes stay around for a pleasant finish.
Cheers,
Steffen Rasch is a Certified Sommelier and Specialist of Wine. Feel free to email him at [email protected] with any wine-related question or learn about wine in person by signing up for one of his tastings through the Providence Wine Academy.
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