WTN: A Languedoc reaches top class; Mas Jullien 89.

Coteaux du Languedoc “Les Cailloutis” 1989 – Mas Jullien – Alc. 13% - made from Grenache, Syrah, Mourvèdre, Cinsault and a touch of Carignan.

We had a brief discussion in a previous thread whether Languedoc wines are capable of rising about excellent QPR status to reach top class. Well, arguably this bottle, which I had forgotten in my cellar, does just that after 19 years ageing has brought refinement and depth of a sort one does not suspect in the deliciously robust young wines from the region.

C: Garnet which has lost youthful intensity and is quite transparent but without a lot of bricking at the rim.
N: Deep and complex dark fruit with some red rose coming out together with touches of Southern herbs, anis, leather and rubbery tar.
P: Concentrated, deep, velvety and long but not at all showy playing variations on the aromas from the nose with everything in harmony including a slight funky touch without which, IMHO, the wine would be diminished. This is an extremely fine wine in a generous Mediterranean vein, as are Châteauneuf du Pape and Bandol; 17.5/20.

Tim, that is pretty good for an elderly `89. Digging around yesterday, I came across a `88 Las Vascos Cab...horror!!

Tim, that is pretty good for an elderly `89.

The remarkable thing was that it didn't taste elderly; mature, yes. Another interesting observation was that this performance was in spite of a leaky cork and a level about a couple of mm below the bottom of the neck (Bordeaux shaped bottle). I guess that this means that bottles with good tight corks have many more years of life in them.

1989 was, of course, a great year in most of France, but this bottle makes me wonder whether the 1996 Depierre from the same estate, where I thought the fruit fading in my June WTN, was in fact in a dumb phase on the way towards opening up into something like this one.

Digging around yesterday, I came across a `88 Las Vascos Cab...horror!!

Isn't that made by the Lafite Rothschilds? They ought to know how to make a Cab which ages gracefully!!

Yeah, but that was before the LR family took over!!!