Chateau Haut-Blanville 2001
I found a nice little cavist nearby who actually seems to care about wine. He had many expensive bottles he could have pressed upon me but chose a Chateau Haut-Blanville 2001 (Coteaux du Languedoc), telling me that all Bordeaux tasted the same, all Burgundy was over priced and only the south — and Alsace — remained exciting.
This is wine is a Syrah, Mourvèe, Carignan blend. It has a distinct aroma of malt and chocolate, mixed with garrigue — the wild herbs which grow in the south and perfume the air there. Clean, New World style, balanced, Rhone like, savory and sweat, like good Rhone and Priorat wines. In fact, fans of those wines will like this one. The tannins are resolved and it is drinking at its peak, in my opinion.
Though I enjoyed it, this wine has two short comings. Firstly, it lacks structure: I wanted some tannin at least. Secondly, it could easily be mistaken for a Southern Rhone. The makers haven’t, I think, taken full advantage of their near unique circumstances they have: a region where just about anything is possible. I guess that is fairly harsh but I see a lot of potential for this producer if only they’ll strike out and create a wine entirely their own.
