Vin de Pays des Cevennes 1995 – Domaine de Baruel – Alc. 13%, made from Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah, roughly 50/50.
C: Deep red with chocolate brown tints visible on pouring and still quite a lot of purple.
N: Dark fruit with a lot of damson and minerals.
P: Full bodied, savoury, austerely expressive and surprisingly youthful with lively acidity, dark plum fruit, good complexity, depth and roundness in mid-palate and still firm tannic structure supporting the finish. The rigour of the Cabernets appears to dominate with the generosity and spice of Syrah perceptible in mid-palate. I love this wine for its lack of artifice and sophistication; simply excellent grapes vinified and matured in a straightforward manner. This is more complex and expressive than the 95 Syrah cuvée, which I wrote about a few months ago, and also than my last bottle opened of 95 Trévallon; 17/20.
Here is some information about the estate http://www.thewinedoctor.com/languedoc/baruel.shtml .
I fear that this may be a frustrating report for two reasons.
- lack of availability outside the London area
- change of ownership in 1999 which causes uncertainty whether the wines are still up to the same standard.
