Domaine de la Rectorie Banyuls Cuvee Elisabeth, Languedoc-Roussillon, France

點(diǎn)擊次數(shù)：2027

The Rectorie’s 1999 Cuvee Elizabeth represents an interesting anomaly. Its fruit having failed (at 13.7%) to reach the requisite potential alcohol for appellation Banyuls, the wine was kept in tank for eight years, intentionally allowing in air. I have to believe it is the absence of wood that permits this wine to be both more precise and subtle in flavor than others from this address. Smoky black tea, citrus oil, musky flowers, and distilled black fruits on the nose lead to a waxy-textured, subtly nutty and oxidized palate and a long, piquant, surprisingly almost bracing finish. This should prove virtually inert in bottle, and interesting for pairing with nuts, cheeses, and savory dishes.Marc, Pierre, and Thierry Parce’s meticulous, biodynamic devotion to (and often, separate vinification of) some thirty terraced parcels along the coast between Collioure and Banyuls and extending well into the interior mountains is strikingly documented by Pierre (a professional photographer) and eloquently articulated in the course of tasting, which makes it a source of frustration as well as disappointment that many of their dry red wines were numbingly and dryly tannic and at times downright funky; their sweets often simply confectionary, with elements of alcohol and wood interfering with rather than framing the fruit. (For reviews of wines from the Parce’s estate in Maury, see under “La Preceptorie de Centernach.”) The Parces are champions of Grenache Gris, but I found the sole example I tasted (in an admittedly incomplete survey of 2006s and 2007s at their two estates) spare, saline, and without much depth.Importer: Jack Siler Selections (various importers), Paris; fax 011 33 1 45 45 23 59