Score: 92/100
This red Pic Saint Loup wine by Chateau Puech-Haut is made from a blend Syrah and Grenache.
After hand-harvest and the fermentation, the Grenache wine went through a traditionnal maturing in tanks, while the Syrah are matured during 12 months in new or one year old oak wine barrels. Yields at the vineyards are quite low at 35hl/ha.
Tasting Notes
This Languedoc red wine from the Pic Saint Loup area comes in a dark and intense red color. Not your huge utterly dense black to the core, you can still slightly see through, but an intense color it has.
The nose feels deep and profound at first sniff, but also lifted and talkative.
The depth is provided by the somewhat mysterious dark chocolate, nearly burnt caramel, toasted hazelnut, and intense clove aromas that captivate your senses and seem to demand your whole attention and tell you: “whatch out, I’m no ordinary wine, get ready for something special”.
The lifted and generous side of the aromatic profile comes from some light-hearted smokiness, zingy chili-like peperriness, like white pepper, and ripe dark strawberry and fresh blackberry jam.
Put the wine in your mouth, and you get the sense that the nose wasn’t bluffing.
The palate IS generous, oily and round-bodied. Tannins are quite dense, and very soft with a velvety texture. They do come to bite your taste buds a little on the edges, but this adds characters and betrays we’re here with a baby of a Languedoc wine after all in this 2015 vintage.
Flavor are powerful, in a controlled strength combining layers of vanilla and caramel oakiness, with vibrant yet jammy red berry fruitiness.
And let’s not forget the peppery spiciness that comes through as relatively balanced as subtle, yet that is a stand-out feature in this wine.
Overall
An opulent and generous Pic Saint Loup wine, filled with generosity and character, featuring many layers of authenticity and expression of its terroir.
Fruit, oak, and perceived sweetness, together with a sense of savory spiciness from deep clove and lifted white pepper tones, form a tasting experience all in contrasts and nuances. It never ceases to surprise and entertains joyfully through the tasting experience…
Enjoy 🙂
Please let me know your thoughts