Mas Foulaquier Le Petit Duc Pic Saint-Loup, Languedoc-Roussillon, France

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Tasted from tank - though like its 2009 counterpart, this about-to-be-bottled Grenache previously sojourned in foudre - the Foulaquier 2009 Coteaux du Languedoc Pic Saint-Loup Le Petit Duc leads with alluring scents of ripe blackberry and strawberry; mint and lavender; and iris, then exhibits a compelling - or, at the very least, a saliva-inducing - combination of ripe yet fresh black fruits and salinity, along with myriad herbal and floral nuances that lead into a long, mouthwatering, fascinatingly interactive finish. This boasts a silken texture and finesse unsurpassed at Foulaquier this vintage, and is on track to represent a fantastic value likely to reward at least 6-8 years of attention. As Jequier points out - and this wine demonstrates - Grenache in the right place and with the right handling can be a complex all-rounder, with as provocatively and intriguingly floral or mineral in tone as any given Syrah (or, for that matter, Carignan). And speaking of myths that need exploding - all honor to vieilles vignes, but this wine from 21 year-old vines is wired to demolish the notion that only hoary old head-pruned Grenache can achieve profundity. Swiss former-architect Pierre Jequier's Mas Foulaquier - and the Les Tonillieres estate-within-an-estate of his wife and formerly Loire winemaker as well as former member of France's Assemblee Nationale Blandine Chauchat (about both of which one can read more in my issue 183 report) - represent one of the six or eight most exciting and consistently excellent sources in the Languedoc. Jequier is another partisan of the 2010 vintage but he managed formidable yet charming success with his early-harvested 2009s, a vintage he compares with 2007 - high praise at this address - and in which he finished harvesting the smallest crop in his career already September 1. -But despite the early harvest,- observes Jequier, -it's fantastic how mature the 2009s' tannins turned out to be- - in most instances, I would add. The relatively cool 2008 growing season coincided with this estate's largest harvest, and as had happened here once before, in 2002, picking extended into October, with excellent results (if at the price of a Les Calades bottling). Jequier, incidentally, is among those expressing a concern on which I have touched in general introductions to my Languedoc and Roussillon reports but fear that by the time my next ones appear two years from now I'll have to harp, namely the aesthetically and historically unfounded, seemingly arbitrary insistence of I.N.A.O. authorities as well as regional grower associations on treating Syrah as a virtual benchmark of quality - and so, for example requiring under current proposals 50% Syrah by surface area and 30% or more by volume for Pic St.-Loup. What worries Jequier is not merely the number of Foulaquier cuvees (not to mention those of other over-achieving estates) that would fail this requirement, but the fact that it ignores the widespread, mysterious - and at this estate increasingly acute - viral malady that has since early this decade been killing-off Syrah vines from here to California. Next year, incidentally, this estate will bottle its first white, from an interesting mixture of traditional cepages to which some mature black grape vines were grafted-over.Importers include Metropolis Wine Merchants, New York, 001 212 581 205 and Ansonia Imports, Wilmington, DE (215) 922-5169

A Grenache raised in foudre - and in this vintage not harvested until October - Foulaquier's 2008 Coteaux du Languedoc Pic Saint-Loup Le Petit Duc exhibits a lightly oxidative, nutty overtone to its fresh dark berry scents, which morph into a tart-, bitter-edged display of black raspberry, juniper berry, and dark chocolate on a rather lean, chewy palate. This somber expression of its vintage and cepage opened up with time to reveal fascinating, decadent, bitter sweet floral nuances and offers a finish of intriguing depth and impressive length. Its persistent firmness notwithstanding, this became more expressive as it opened to the air. It ought to be worth following for at least 4-5 years. Swiss former-architect Pierre Jequier's Mas Foulaquier - and the Les Tonillieres estate-within-an-estate of his wife and formerly Loire winemaker as well as former member of France's Assemblee Nationale Blandine Chauchat (about both of which one can read more in my issue 183 report) - represent one of the six or eight most exciting and consistently excellent sources in the Languedoc. Jequier is another partisan of the 2010 vintage but he managed formidable yet charming success with his early-harvested 2009s, a vintage he compares with 2007 - high praise at this address - and in which he finished harvesting the smallest crop in his career already September 1. -But despite the early harvest,- observes Jequier, -it's fantastic how mature the 2009s' tannins turned out to be- - in most instances, I would add. The relatively cool 2008 growing season coincided with this estate's largest harvest, and as had happened here once before, in 2002, picking extended into October, with excellent results (if at the price of a Les Calades bottling). Jequier, incidentally, is among those expressing a concern on which I have touched in general introductions to my Languedoc and Roussillon reports but fear that by the time my next ones appear two years from now I'll have to harp, namely the aesthetically and historically unfounded, seemingly arbitrary insistence of I.N.A.O. authorities as well as regional grower associations on treating Syrah as a virtual benchmark of quality - and so, for example requiring under current proposals 50% Syrah by surface area and 30% or more by volume for Pic St.-Loup. What worries Jequier is not merely the number of Foulaquier cuvees (not to mention those of other over-achieving estates) that would fail this requirement, but the fact that it ignores the widespread, mysterious - and at this estate increasingly acute - viral malady that has since early this decade been killing-off Syrah vines from here to California. Next year, incidentally, this estate will bottle its first white, from an interesting mixture of traditional cepages to which some mature black grape vines were grafted-over.Importers include Metropolis Wine Merchants, New York, 001 212 581 205 and Ansonia Imports, Wilmington, DE (215) 922-5169