Clos Marie Pic Saint-Loup Cuvee Simon, Languedoc-Roussillon, France

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The Clos Marie 2007 Coteaux du Languedoc Pic Saint-Loup Simon – a blend of around equal parts Grenache and Syrah, with perhaps 10% Mourvedre – displays ripe, distilled black fruits, subtle smokiness, resinous herbs, crushed stone, graphite, salt spray, peony floral notes, and a deep, marrow-like meaty richness from nose to finish. A formidable and palpable sense of extract backs up the depth of flavor on display in a wine marrying richness with finesse, refreshment, and minerality to a degree that makes it hard to believe it represents the “l(fā)ower end” of the Clos Marie line-up. But then, it is precisely such a marriage that Peyrus says represents the goal in all of his wines. This long-finishing beauty should reward at least 3-5 years of cellaring. Christophe Peyrus and Francois Julien had only recently assembled the majority of their 2007 reds when I tasted with them in December, and that collection is as exciting as past experience with Clos Marie and recognition of the potential of this vintage would lead one to expect. “Ripeness came early and homogeneously,” says owner-winemaker Peyrus. “The harvest was very rapid, and the evolution of the wines has been precocious.” Yet even under these conditions, potential alcohol seldom exceeded 14.5% even for the blocks of Grenache, a circumstance Peyrus attributes to his biodynamic methods of cultivation. He is also a partisan of vendange entier (the inclusion of whole clusters in red wine fermentation – in his case generally at least 50%) and says the stems were thoroughly ripe (i.e. lignified) in 2007. It’s a measure of the excitement that within fifteen years, this estate has ascended from obscurity to the top echelon of French wine addresses. There is never a lot of new wood in this dripping-wet cellar, although much of what there is, interestingly, comes from Austrian barrel-maker Franz Stockinger. (The 2007 reds had never been sulfured when I tasted them – that happens here only at bottling, and then only very judiciously.)Imported by Weygandt-Metzler, Unionville, PA; tel. (610) 486-0800 and Beaune Imports, Berkeley, CA; tel. (510) 559 1040