The tank-rendered, 65% Syrah-35% Grenache Lancyre 2009 Coteaux du Languedoc Pic Saint-Loup Vieilles Vignes suffers slightly – like its Coste d’Aleyrac counterpart – from extraneous tannin, although its combination of cherry and rhubarb with cherry pit and black pepper offers tartness and invigoration welcome in the context of this vintage. The synergy of pungency and astringency in the finish though will I suspect strike most tasters as double-edged, but this is impressive in sheer grip and persistence, with meaty and stony notes emerging on aeration to supply some depth. It might well benefit from a year or two in bottling, and certainly ought to useful for at least 3-4. Regis Valentin once again displayed many successes across a stylistically diverse range. The 2009s here are however mildly disappointing – a circumstance not unfamiliar from Pic Saint-Loup – especially when directly compared with results from 2008, whose October harvest of Syrah, incidentally, was the latest in the estate’s history. As so often, though, 2010 is especially exciting, and the young reds from this vintage were already too deliciously expressive for me to resist publishing notes. Re-tasting the 2007 reds – on which I had last reported before bottling in issue 183 – they remain impressive (with the exception of the Grande Cuvee, now performing on the lower side of my pre-bottling projection), although their bitter elements and tannin were somewhat enhanced, and I re-rated both the Coste d’Aleyrac and Vieilles Vignes 90 points. Valentin graciously consented on this occasion to my request to taste some older vintages of his Roussanne – bottles of which I was thrilled to discover that he indeed cellars, and that you and I should, too!Imported by Handpicked Selections, Warrenton, VA; tel. (540) 347 9400