Mas d'Alezon Faugeres Montfalette, Languedoc-Roussillon, France

點(diǎn)擊次數(shù)：2292

With Mourvedre in excess of Syrah or Grenache, the 2009 Faugeres Montfalette retains the cuvee name that until 2008 represented the sole bottling from Domaine d'Alezon. Ripe cherry and purple plum, bay and juniper, nut oils and charred red meat mingle on a silken palate that displays primary juiciness and levity you would not expect from this vintage. A vibrant and complex finish benefits further from pronounced salinity that serves for a mouthwatering enticement to take the next sip. This beauty ought to merit attention for at least half a dozen years, though my impression is that Roque's Faugeres is not made for long keeping. (The material for the 2010 Montfalette, incidentally, looked promisingly complex and full of energy.) Catherine Roque (for more on whose Mas d'Alezon consult my report in issue 183) has vinified her first Faugeres blanc - primarily from Roussanne and Clairette - but that wine, while clearly promising, was still fermenting its last bit of sugar when I visited. She is also pushing the envelope on diminished sulfur (which may partly be from fashion, or from a belief that this goes hand-in-hand with her biodynamic viticultural regimen) in what are as ever relatively low-alcohol, conspicuously high-altitude, "Burgundian" interpretations of Faugeres.There is no current importer to the U.S.

Animal aromas and concentrated cassis fruit. Pleasant, sweetly fruity, easy and simple palate. Good extraction of fruit and oak blended in. Natural richness. Alc: 12.5%.

Smoky, dusty, toasted nut, and gamey notes in the nose of Roque's 2008 Faugeres Montfalette then mingle with purple plum and chocolate on the palate. Saline and crushed stone notes add interest and savor to the finish of this relatively sparely-textured cuvee. It seems to have escaped ill effects from the hail thanks to cautious vinification and of course good viticulture, but especially in view of its low sulfur I would plan to drink it within the next couple of years.Catherine Roque (for more on whose Mas d'Alezon consult my report in issue 183) has vinified her first Faugeres blanc - primarily from Roussanne and Clairette - but that wine, while clearly promising, was still fermenting its last bit of sugar when I visited. She is also pushing the envelope on diminished sulfur (which may partly be from fashion, or from a belief that this goes hand-in-hand with her biodynamic viticultural regimen) in what are as ever relatively low-alcohol, conspicuously high-altitude, "Burgundian" interpretations of Faugeres.There is no current importer to the U.S.

Assembled, but tasted from a single one of the older barriques to which it had been returned, the d’Alezon 2007 Faugeres Montfalette projects bright, faintly tart blackberry and blueberry throughout, and pairs alkaline and humus notes in the nose with wet stone and pencil lead on the palate. Suggestions of mint and thyme complement the cool, fresh aspect of the fruit, but a distinctive note of raw meat points to the more mysterious side of Syrah and Mourvedre. This persistently flavorful Faugeres displays real cut and energy, and should be worthy of at least a 4-5 year run in bottle. But there is not an ounce of fat on it, and for some tasters that may count less as handsome leanness than as undernourishment. The wonder is that this wine and one the likes of Didier Barral’s Jadis should be considered representatives of the same appellation. The differences are not just stylistic, but a function of diverse micro-climates. On ten acres of schist just over the formidably steep and rocky Montfalette from her Domaine Clovallon with its Pinot Noir and exotic whites (profiled separately in this report), Catherine Roque grows more predictable Syrah, Grenache, and Mourvedre. But the style here is unusually Pinot Noir-like thanks to her insistence on freshness and vivacity rather than sumptuous fruit or imposing tannic structure, as well as to her wines being anomalously low (12.5-13%) alcohol. Not, apparently, that even this degree of natural alcohol is easily achieved in the nose-bleed stone bleachers of northern Faugeres: “The hunters are out and everyone else’s pickers are gone when I start harvesting,” remarks Roque. These will not be every taster’s cup of Faugeres, but I found them refreshing in more ways than one.Importer: Wine Warehouse, Los Angeles, CA; tel. (800) 331 2829

The young Syrah-dominated d’Alezon 2006 Faugeres Montfalette is generous with its aroma and flavor of wild cherries with subtle fruit pit bitterness, as well as with savory, saline mineral, wet stone, and pencil lead that run right through to the long, juicy, invigorating, positively lip-smacking finish. There is structure here in the form of fine-grained tannins, not to mention boatloads of sheer energy, and I imagine this being worth following for at least 3-4 years. What you won’t find here is weight or sumptuousness.On ten acres of schist just over the formidably steep and rocky Montfalette from her Domaine Clovallon with its Pinot Noir and exotic whites (profiled separately in this report), Catherine Roque grows more predictable Syrah, Grenache, and Mourvedre. But the style here is unusually Pinot Noir-like thanks to her insistence on freshness and vivacity rather than sumptuous fruit or imposing tannic structure, as well as to her wines being anomalously low (12.5-13%) alcohol. Not, apparently, that even this degree of natural alcohol is easily achieved in the nose-bleed stone bleachers of northern Faugeres: “The hunters are out and everyone else’s pickers are gone when I start harvesting,” remarks Roque. These will not be every taster’s cup of Faugeres, but I found them refreshing in more ways than one.Importer: Wine Warehouse, Los Angeles, CA; tel. (800) 331 2829