L'Oustal Blanc Minervois Giocoso, Languedoc-Roussillon, France

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In a close approximation to what will be bottled around May of next year, l'Oustal Blanc's 2010 Minervois Giocoso features roughly two-thirds Grenache and the rest Syrah and Carignan. Even by the exalted standards of this estate, here is an uncommonly fine, otherwise improbable combination of richness with vivacity. Black raspberry and elderberry preserves are complimented by smoky black tea, brown spices, iodine, and a salinity that serves for invigorating and mouthwatering as well as strikingly sustained persistence. This should be worth following for a decade. While Claude and Isabel Fonquerle - for much more about whose domaine and ideals, consult my report in issue 183 - retain their business address and facility in Creissan (St.-Chinian, where they also have a small Cinsault vineyard) for storage and expedition, crush and vinification takes place entirely at their compact, indeed crowded, vintage 1907 cellar in La Liviniere. I had not previously had opportunity to visit the Fonquerles' vineyards and was impressed with their geological diversity, encompassing elements of sandstone and schiste as well as quartzite-rich, Chateauneuf-like galets roules and iron-rich chalk-clay underpinnings that include blue Marne clay seams of the sort associated with the unique water-management of the best Pomerol terroir. "Especially in 2009," notes Claude Fonquerle, "you needed the diversity of cuvees from different sorts of soil to achieve finesse and complexity," and he certainly succeeded, though at the price of bottling any red cuvee Naick, his Cinsault and other fruit from especially friable, light soils having in his view been needed (as had been the case also in 2003) for blending into upper-level cuvees. I would not have been surprised - and some of Claude Fonquerle's own comments pointed in this direction - to have to have found the vintage character of 2008 better-suited to his proclaimed Burgundian ideals and to tempering any temptation of these wines to flirt with alcoholic overload. In the event, though, the seamless ripeness of this estate's 2009s is compelling and by no means precludes vibrancy or refinement. The refrigerated truck used to chill all of the estate's fruit overnight; stringent selection on a vibrating table (it can take a week to fill a single fermenting tank); and the use of a wooden basket press could all additionally be adduced to account for l'Oustal Blanc's high quality even in drought-stressed, hot, vintages with low juice-to-skin ratio such as 2009. And the Fonquerles' impressive 2010s reflected even lower yields and tinier berries than their 2009s. I tasted not only site-specific and single-cepage components from 2010 but also blends that the Fonquerles' considered close to definitive, and on which I have for that reason - not to mention on account of their high quality - elected to report already. (Malo-lactic transformation here normally follows on the heels of alcoholic fermentation, and did so in 2010.) By the way, the cuvee known as Maestoso (for more about which consult my report in issue 183) has been discontinued.Importer: Weygandt-Metzler, Unionville, PA; tel. (610) 486-0800

From tank, the l'Oustal Blanc 2009 Minervois Giocoso - incorporating some Cinsault along with its usual Grenache, Syrah, and Carignan - is redolent of incense, freshly-baked ginger cookies, and confitured cherry and black raspberry. Thickly and seamlessly rich, it displays, surprisingly, no greater sense of superficial sweetness than the corresponding 2008 (the leavening or fluxing effect of the Cinsault perhaps decisive in this regard). For all of its high-alcohol richness this also evinces an uncanny sense of finishing buoyancy of a sort that growers are quick to attribute to the magic of chalk and clay. There is terrific grip and lingering spice here yet without any objectionable heat, while a sustained sense of salinity serves for saliva inducement. This ought to superbly for at least 6-8 years. While Claude and Isabel Fonquerle - for much more about whose domaine and ideals, consult my report in issue 183 - retain their business address and facility in Creissan (St.-Chinian, where they also have a small Cinsault vineyard) for storage and expedition, crush and vinification takes place entirely at their compact, indeed crowded, vintage 1907 cellar in La Liviniere. I had not previously had opportunity to visit the Fonquerles' vineyards and was impressed with their geological diversity, encompassing elements of sandstone and schiste as well as quartzite-rich, Chateauneuf-like galets roules and iron-rich chalk-clay underpinnings that include blue Marne clay seams of the sort associated with the unique water-management of the best Pomerol terroir. "Especially in 2009," notes Claude Fonquerle, "you needed the diversity of cuvees from different sorts of soil to achieve finesse and complexity," and he certainly succeeded, though at the price of bottling any red cuvee Naick, his Cinsault and other fruit from especially friable, light soils having in his view been needed (as had been the case also in 2003) for blending into upper-level cuvees. I would not have been surprised - and some of Claude Fonquerle's own comments pointed in this direction - to have to have found the vintage character of 2008 better-suited to his proclaimed Burgundian ideals and to tempering any temptation of these wines to flirt with alcoholic overload. In the event, though, the seamless ripeness of this estate's 2009s is compelling and by no means precludes vibrancy or refinement. The refrigerated truck used to chill all of the estate's fruit overnight; stringent selection on a vibrating table (it can take a week to fill a single fermenting tank); and the use of a wooden basket press could all additionally be adduced to account for l'Oustal Blanc's high quality even in drought-stressed, hot, vintages with low juice-to-skin ratio such as 2009. And the Fonquerles' impressive 2010s reflected even lower yields and tinier berries than their 2009s. I tasted not only site-specific and single-cepage components from 2010 but also blends that the Fonquerles' considered close to definitive, and on which I have for that reason - not to mention on account of their high quality - elected to report already. (Malo-lactic transformation here normally follows on the heels of alcoholic fermentation, and did so in 2010.) By the way, the cuvee known as Maestoso (for more about which consult my report in issue 183) has been discontinued.Importer: Weygandt-Metzler, Unionville, PA; tel. (610) 486-0800

The l'Oustal Blanc 2008 Minervois Giocoso features overwhelmingly Grenache together with some Syrah and Carignan. Heady perfume of wisteria and liqueur-like intensity of dark berries instantly capture one's attention. This displays impressive depth of ripe dark cherry and black raspberry fruit mingled with smoky black tea and licorice on a palate of silken polish, with an undertone of wet stone, chalk, and piquant notes of cherry pit and rosemary setting off the lusciousness of fruit in a long and (given nearly 15% alcohol) improbably buoyant finish. I would expect this to perform admirably for at least the next 6-8 years. While Claude and Isabel Fonquerle - for much more about whose domaine and ideals, consult my report in issue 183 - retain their business address and facility in Creissan (St.-Chinian, where they also have a small Cinsault vineyard) for storage and expedition, crush and vinification takes place entirely at their compact, indeed crowded, vintage 1907 cellar in La Liviniere. I had not previously had opportunity to visit the Fonquerles' vineyards and was impressed with their geological diversity, encompassing elements of sandstone and schiste as well as quartzite-rich, Chateauneuf-like galets roules and iron-rich chalk-clay underpinnings that include blue Marne clay seams of the sort associated with the unique water-management of the best Pomerol terroir. "Especially in 2009," notes Claude Fonquerle, "you needed the diversity of cuvees from different sorts of soil to achieve finesse and complexity," and he certainly succeeded, though at the price of bottling any red cuvee Naick, his Cinsault and other fruit from especially friable, light soils having in his view been needed (as had been the case also in 2003) for blending into upper-level cuvees. I would not have been surprised - and some of Claude Fonquerle's own comments pointed in this direction - to have to have found the vintage character of 2008 better-suited to his proclaimed Burgundian ideals and to tempering any temptation of these wines to flirt with alcoholic overload. In the event, though, the seamless ripeness of this estate's 2009s is compelling and by no means precludes vibrancy or refinement. The refrigerated truck used to chill all of the estate's fruit overnight; stringent selection on a vibrating table (it can take a week to fill a single fermenting tank); and the use of a wooden basket press could all additionally be adduced to account for l'Oustal Blanc's high quality even in drought-stressed, hot, vintages with low juice-to-skin ratio such as 2009. And the Fonquerles' impressive 2010s reflected even lower yields and tinier berries than their 2009s. I tasted not only site-specific and single-cepage components from 2010 but also blends that the Fonquerles' considered close to definitive, and on which I have for that reason - not to mention on account of their high quality - elected to report already. (Malo-lactic transformation here normally follows on the heels of alcoholic fermentation, and did so in 2010.) By the way, the cuvee known as Maestoso (for more about which consult my report in issue 183) has been discontinued.Importer: Weygandt-Metzler, Unionville, PA; tel. (610) 486-0800

The 2007 Minervois Giocoso – which I tasted assembled from tank – is 65% Grenache (raised in tank), with a balance of Syrah and Carignan (raised in barrique, half new), and incorporates fruit from outside of the La Liviniere sub-appellation. Black raspberry, blackberry, carob, gingerbread, and nutmeg in the nose set the theme for a richly ripe yet berry-tart palate of seductive spiciness and underlain by what it is hard not to imagine as something analogous to the schistic stone (rare for Minervois) and chalk on which these grapes grew. This shows a rare purity, lift, refinement, and vivacity you will seek virtually in vain anywhere in this appellation, and the finish is invigorating to the point of exhilaration. I expect it will reward at least 6-8 years of cellaring. Claude and Isabel Fonquerle began farming Minervois La Liviniere in 2002, in partnership with oenologist Philippe Cambie of Chateauneuf du Pape. (They also have a sliver of acreage near one of their two facilities, in the St. Chinian appellation.) Nearly all of their vines are old and head pruned. Fruit is rigorously selected at picking, chilled overnight, and then sorted twice more by bunch and berry before crushing, and fermentative skin contact can run for one or two months! “While Chateauneuf remains the source of my orientation,” says Claude, “Burgundy is my inspiration. The purity of fruit and the minerality in those wines is something magical. Think of Henri Jayer!” I’ve heard that Burgundy line the world over, and I’m not sure to what extent I’d call these wines “Burgundian.” But purity of fruit and elements one can only describe as “mineral,” they surely display in abundance. It would be less misleading – and no exaggeration – to say that this team has already redefined the potential of Minervois, and bottled what are almost certainly the finest and most exciting wines ever grown in that appellation, not to mention their representing extraordinary values. This is not the same as saying “of that appellation,” incidentally, because not all L’Oustal Blanc wines follow the blends permitted or the protocol prescribed for Minervois. The Fonquerle’s mutual inspiration and admiration with horn player Jacques Adnet of the Paris Opera has resulted in the re-christening of their upper-level cuvees with names inspired by music. Importer: Weygandt-Metzler, Unionville, PA; tel. (610) 486-0800