Tasted as a definitive blend although the actual assemblage would not take place for months and bottling not until mid-2012, Hecht & Bannier's 2010 Saint-Chinian represents a felicitous marriage of virtually all of their sources (which are far fewer for this appellation than for their Minervois) of dominant Syrah - on both schist and chalk-clay - with Grenache and small amounts of Mourvedre and Carignan. High-toned kirsch, framboise, and cassis distillates seem to shadow the ripe fresh berries from the nose all the way through a sappily-concentrated, subtly silken mid-palate to an effusively juicy, uplifting finish. Along the way, inflections of crushed stone, smoky black tea, resinous herbs, licorice, and juniper better contribute to a rivetingly dynamic interplay whose finish will leave your tongue fluttering and your salivary glands pumping overtime. I've noted on several occasions this talented team's ability to meet expectations set by the finest estates in each appellation with which they work, but in all fairness to the finest bottling growers in Saint-Chinian (whose numbers could use boosting), who makes any more complex or convincing wine from this appellation today than the wine I have in my glass? What's more, here's betting this will remain glorious for the better part of a decade, if not beyond. 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
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