2007 Bergerie de L'Hortus Pic St. Loup Classique

Made from 60% Syrah, 20% Grenache and 10%, Mourvedre, this stainless steel fermented and aged wine definitely performs above its price point. You can smell and taste the "garrigue" in the wine, (the wild herbs that are everywhere on the Languedoc hillsides). Wild thyme, rosemary and the ever elusive black truffles make their way from your nose into your mouth but at the same time, the wild blueberry fruit from the Syrah shines through. There is a touch of smoky bacon fat and a dash of white pepper as well.

The 2007 vintage was ripe for the most part but not overly so and this wine shows a fine acidity that keeps your mouth watering for more.

With the Lentil and Proscuitto soup from tonight it seemed the perfect match as the acidity cut the fat of the prosciutto and the herbs in the soup, mostly basil and oregano went well with the aroma of wild herbs and black truffles in the wine.

Truly a match made in heaven.

See here, http://www.beauneimports.com/retail/producer_detail.php?producer_id=32&from=producers , for some more info on the producer and some great photos of the valley. It is truly one of the most beautiful places I have been in France and I would love to go back and spend some more time.

J

A little old Rose` never hurt anyone . . .

So one of the importers I work with has been cleaning out the cellar lately so whenever I get samples from Northern California, thrown into the box is usually one or two older vintages of wines that we currently represent. This time it was Bergerie de l'Hortus 2000 Rose`.

Showing lovely mature aromas of truffled berries and sweet subtle floral notes, the wine was a showing mature, slightly cooked gritty prune flavors in the mouth but also had a nice warmth, roundness and pretty long finish.

I could actually see this faring pretty well in a tasting alongside older Burgundy of minor quality as color could be confused between the two and flavors, although different, were similar enough to create some doubt in the mind.

Overall, pleasant but definitely proved again to me that your Rose` wine should be drunk within a few years of release!

Cheers.

J