Hecht & Bannier's 2008 Languedoc incorporates primarily Syrah and a bit of Carignan the Terrasses du Larzac; Syrah from Saint Chinian; and Grenache from the Agly Valley of Roussillon, a mix that held essentially constant for 2009. This is pungently redolent of garrigue and hedge flowers along with distilled essences of purple plum and black raspberry. Ripe but tart-edged dark berries intensely and confidently assert themselves on an infectiously juicy, bright yet glycerin-rich palate infused with piquant fruit pit, thyme, arbor vitae, rosemary, crushed stone, and mineral salts. "Francois and I were trying to make a Beaujolais from the South of France," jokes Hecht, "? seriously, because we're big fans of Beaujolais crus, and wanted to create something easy and fresh." They went well beyond that mandate with this amazing value! But at 13% alcohol, it is certainly buoyant and all to easy-to-drink; and I detect an emerging note of rich beef marrow that I associate with, say, a top-notch Moulin-a-Vent. I suspect this will remain lovely for at least 3-4 more years, whatever its authors' intentions. Gregory Hecht and Francois Bannier's - for more about whose remarkable partnership, consult my account in issue 183 - are living up to the challenge they set themselves, namely to render, as negociants of a unique hands-on labor-intensity, wines that can stand comparison with those of each respective appellations top estates. They continue to focus on the same four appellations (for an account of their Cotes du Roussillon cuvees as well as an inaugural Maury, see the report on Roussillon that appears in this issue), although several other projects have emerged, including an Appellation Languedoc bottling that serves not only as an intro-level wine but as an outlet for fruit that does not make the cut for their four other dry red wines. Remarkably, U.S. retail prices for these extraordinary values have remained virtually unchanged since they first appeared in our markets - except for the couple of instances where they have been lowered! (I won't repeatedly note and literally underline references to value in the notes that follow; if you compare them with my scores and the prevailing prices, you ought hardly to need help drawing the appropriate consequences, however jaw-dropping!) "Selection was an interesting but especially tough job in 2008," notes Gregory Hecht, "because there was a lot of mildew pressure for growers to deal with in a relatively cool year with only two real heat spikes." The results illustrate precisely the distinctive virtues of this vintage. "Two thousand nine is obvious in its generosity and power," opines Hecht, "whereas 2010 is more nicely-dressed and elegant, with a crisp edge." The down-side of the enormously promising and already irresistible youngest offspring at this address is that low yields - when combined with Hecht and Bannier's stringent principles of selection and grower-loyalty - meant that the total volume of wine available under their label had to suffer a significant dip.Importer: Frederick Wildman & Sons, New York, NY; tel. (212) 355-0700