The Cal Demoura 2007 Coteaux du Languedoc Terrasses du Larzac L’Infidele – a largely barrel-raised blend of 20-30% each Syrah, Grenache, and Mourvedre, plus some Carignan and Cinsault – is faintly acrid and seemingly reduced in the nose, though behind that nutty and dark berry preserve aromas and flavors make for a ripe if firm palate and satisfyingly persistent finish underlined with a slightly austere sense of stoniness and tinged with the pungency of marjoram, wild fennel, and otherwise piquantly resinous herbs. I would plan on serving this over the next 2-3 of years, though it might well become more expressive. Vincent Goumard – for more about whose estate and methods, consult my account in issue 183 – has more than merely fine-tuned his approach in both the vineyard and cellar. Among the significant changes are an ongoing organic conversion; the introduction of a sorting table with the 2008 vintage; and the harvest of Carignan earlier and at lower alcohol for what Goumard calls “a complete change in the expression of this cepage,” strikingly evident amid the exciting raw materials for the estate’s 2010s. “After fermentation of the 2010 Syrahs, you thought you were in the Northern Rhone,” says Goumard, and the effusively floral and illusively carnal evidence remained abundant when I tasted from barrel in April. Imported by Rosenthal Wine Merchant, Pine Plains, NY; tel. (800) 910-1990.