Domaine de Montcalmes Coteaux du Languedoc, Languedoc-Roussillon, France

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Tasted from the new and once-used demi-muids in which it is being almost entirely raised, Pourtalie’s Roussanne-Marsanne 2010 Coteaux du Languedoc offers alluring scents of apple and orange blossoms, honeysuckle and iris; then strikes a lovely balance between glyceral richness and subtle creaminess with vivacity, ripe Persian melon and bite of cress. The buoyant finish here introduces a bit of apple pit and orange peel bitterness while persisting in fruit juiciness and floral evocations. These are early days for this, to be sure, but after it has been bottled next summer, it’s likely to merit at least 2-3 years of attention. Frederic Pourtalie – for more on whose vineyards and late-bottling methods consult my report in issue 183 – showed me an extraordinary set of dense, bright, and kaleidoscopically complex 2010 red raw materials which simultaneously offered insights into multiple permutations of cepages and terroirs. In addition to his acreage around Aniane and Puechabon – dominated by cobbled, south-facing acreage and northeast- and northwest-facing Ochre-colored chalk-clay – Pourtalie has now incorporated family holdings (long under contract with the Aniane co-op) roughly eight kilometers to the west in St-Saturnin-de-Lucian. (A new, ultra-steep parcel of Syrah in Aniane will come on-line this year.) Variations on Grenache – which until now represented only 20% of production – proved especially fascinating from 2010, and Pourtalie is toying with the idea of a separate, multi-terroir Grenache bottling from 2011. Yet, exciting as 2010 is at this address, Pourtalie’s multifaceted 2009s – which were still similarly separated by lot when I visited in April – displayed an unusual vivacity and focus for their vintage and thus also tremendous promise, This Pourtalie puts down to the excellence and diversity of his sites and to having preferred sinning on the side of earlier picking in order to conserve freshness and keep alcohol levels under or around 15%. The finished 2008 and 2007 flagship Montcalmes bottlings are fascinating and delicious in their own rights, but tasting them immediately after a tour of dozens of barrels from 2010 and 2009 left me with some suspicion that perhaps the 27-30 months’ elevage (largely in demi-muids and barriques) that these wines undergo might be slightly excessive for capturing the purity of fruit, sense of energy, and above all wealth of nuance that the best of them display from barrel. White wines represent a mere 5% of total production at Montcalmes, but Pourtalie now has two of them, both far too fascinating to deserve merely short shrift. (And since volumes of white here are so small, it’s possible to relatively accurately report on their totality from barrel.)A Daniel Johnnes Selection; Importers include Michael Skurnik Wines, Inc., Syosset, NY; tel (516) 677-9300

Tasted from new and once-used demi-muids and due to have been bottled this summer, the Montcalmes white 2009 Coteaux du Languedoc (Roussanne-Marsanne, as usual) is headily-scented with nearly over-ripe pear and musk melon, accompanied by heliotrope and lily. Creamy and rich, it lacks the primary juiciness, persistence of floral perfume, or mineral dimension of its 2010 counterpart. But this is still impressive in its soothing and almost sweetly persistent way – with hints of citrus rinds and white pepper adding counterpoint to its finish – and should be flattering to follow for a year in bottle. Frederic Pourtalie – for more on whose vineyards and late-bottling methods consult my report in issue 183 – showed me an extraordinary set of dense, bright, and kaleidoscopically complex 2010 red raw materials which simultaneously offered insights into multiple permutations of cepages and terroirs. In addition to his acreage around Aniane and Puechabon – dominated by cobbled, south-facing acreage and northeast- and northwest-facing Ochre-colored chalk-clay – Pourtalie has now incorporated family holdings (long under contract with the Aniane co-op) roughly eight kilometers to the west in St-Saturnin-de-Lucian. (A new, ultra-steep parcel of Syrah in Aniane will come on-line this year.) Variations on Grenache – which until now represented only 20% of production – proved especially fascinating from 2010, and Pourtalie is toying with the idea of a separate, multi-terroir Grenache bottling from 2011. Yet, exciting as 2010 is at this address, Pourtalie’s multifaceted 2009s – which were still similarly separated by lot when I visited in April – displayed an unusual vivacity and focus for their vintage and thus also tremendous promise, This Pourtalie puts down to the excellence and diversity of his sites and to having preferred sinning on the side of earlier picking in order to conserve freshness and keep alcohol levels under or around 15%. The finished 2008 and 2007 flagship Montcalmes bottlings are fascinating and delicious in their own rights, but tasting them immediately after a tour of dozens of barrels from 2010 and 2009 left me with some suspicion that perhaps the 27-30 months’ elevage (largely in demi-muids and barriques) that these wines undergo might be slightly excessive for capturing the purity of fruit, sense of energy, and above all wealth of nuance that the best of them display from barrel. White wines represent a mere 5% of total production at Montcalmes, but Pourtalie now has two of them, both far too fascinating to deserve merely short shrift. (And since volumes of white here are so small, it’s possible to relatively accurately report on their totality from barrel.)A Daniel Johnnes Selection; Importers include Michael Skurnik Wines, Inc., Syosset, NY; tel (516) 677-9300

The Montcalmes white 2008 Coteaux du Languedoc (half each Roussanne and Marsanne) brims with white peach, Persian melon, fresh lime, and diverse flowers. Silken in texture, soothing, and persistently succulent, it picks up hints of salt and chalk en route to a long finish whose persistence of elusive floral perfume is haunting. As is often the case when Montcalmes wine white or red gets into bottle, the overall effect is understated, not necessarily a weakness but in some sense a small step down from the more emphatic and energetic impression these wines seem typically to convey from barrel. I would be inclined to enjoy this 2008 white over the next couple of years. Frederic Pourtalie – for more on whose vineyards and late-bottling methods consult my report in issue 183 – showed me an extraordinary set of dense, bright, and kaleidoscopically complex 2010 red raw materials which simultaneously offered insights into multiple permutations of cepages and terroirs. In addition to his acreage around Aniane and Puechabon – dominated by cobbled, south-facing acreage and northeast- and northwest-facing Ochre-colored chalk-clay – Pourtalie has now incorporated family holdings (long under contract with the Aniane co-op) roughly eight kilometers to the west in St-Saturnin-de-Lucian. (A new, ultra-steep parcel of Syrah in Aniane will come on-line this year.) Variations on Grenache – which until now represented only 20% of production – proved especially fascinating from 2010, and Pourtalie is toying with the idea of a separate, multi-terroir Grenache bottling from 2011. Yet, exciting as 2010 is at this address, Pourtalie’s multifaceted 2009s – which were still similarly separated by lot when I visited in April – displayed an unusual vivacity and focus for their vintage and thus also tremendous promise, This Pourtalie puts down to the excellence and diversity of his sites and to having preferred sinning on the side of earlier picking in order to conserve freshness and keep alcohol levels under or around 15%. The finished 2008 and 2007 flagship Montcalmes bottlings are fascinating and delicious in their own rights, but tasting them immediately after a tour of dozens of barrels from 2010 and 2009 left me with some suspicion that perhaps the 27-30 months’ elevage (largely in demi-muids and barriques) that these wines undergo might be slightly excessive for capturing the purity of fruit, sense of energy, and above all wealth of nuance that the best of them display from barrel. White wines represent a mere 5% of total production at Montcalmes, but Pourtalie now has two of them, both far too fascinating to deserve merely short shrift. (And since volumes of white here are so small, it’s possible to relatively accurately report on their totality from barrel.)A Daniel Johnnes Selection; Importers include Michael Skurnik Wines, Inc., Syosset, NY; tel (516) 677-9300

Montcalmes’ 2,000 bottles worth of white 2007 Coteaux du Languedoc – split between Roussanne and Marsanne as well as between the estate’s two soil types, and vinified in new demi-muids – smells sweetly of heliotrope, lily, apple, melons, and honey, with lanolin and vanilla accents from the cask. Saline and chalky inflections to the wine’s honey and nut richness; glossy, creamy palate presence; and surprisingly vivacious finish, give this a decidedly mineral cast. Pourtalie expressed no urgency about bottling, and I suspect it will be worth following for at least 2-3 years post-bottling. Frederoc Pourtalie – who inherited his family’s extensive Puechabon and Aniane vineyards just over a decade ago, but retains only their best fruit – displays the sort of ambition as well as vinous results one would expect on learning that he is a protege of nearby Grange des Peres’ proprietor Laurent Vaille. Some of Pourtalie’s cobbled, Chateauneuf-like, south-facing acreage in Aniane is capable of ripening Mourvedre – a favorite grape for him – by mid-September. Most of the estate’s Syrah – in northeast- and northwest-facing parcels of ochre-colored chalk resembling that at Mas Daumas Gassac – was planted by his father with an old, local selection in 1980. (A small portion of Syrah on cobbles is subject to a separate bottling, which I did not taste.) The reds here are marked by an absence of new wood, with small barrels 2-3 years old for Syrah and Mourvedre, and even older for Grenache. Pourtalie’s impressively promising, mineral-inflected, and refined 2007 vintage red lots – beautifully marrying richness with brightness and lift – had not been assembled when I tasted them in December, indeed some had only recently finished malo-lactic conversion.A Daniel Johnnes Selection; Importers include Michael Skurnik Wines, Inc., Syosset, NY; tel. (516) 677-9300