Last friday, Jeb Dunnuck has unveiled his notes on Roussillon for The Wine Advocate. And for the first time in the history of this region, there is one potential 100-pointers: Michel Chapoutier’s Domaine de Bila Haut Lesquerde Rectificando Invenies (Ri) 2013 scored (97-100). In the past, the Wine advocate had given 99 points to Clos des Truffiers “Clos des Truffieres” 2009 and La Peira “La Peira” 2009, the highest scores as of today.
Beginning with a harvest report, Jeb Dunnuck concluded that 2013 was a terrific vintage for the Roussillon and that these wines should not be missed. In short, Roussillon is “The King of France in 2013” as Jeb puts it. Consequently he did rate many 2013 Roussillon highly, Chapoutier most of all (97-100) alongside names such as Domaine Gauby, Agly Brothers, Department 66 or Calvet-Thunevin.
Some of the best scores for 2013 Roussillon:
Domaine de Bila Haut Lesquerde Rectificando Invenies (Ri) 2013 – (97-100)
Department 66 Cotes Catalanes Pharaon 2013 – 96
Calvet-Thunevin “les Trois Maries” 2013 – (95-97)
Domaine Gauby “la Muntada” 2013 – (94-97)
Agly Brothers 2013 – (94-96)
In fact that is good news for Roussillon as wine producers were not happy recently when they read the results of Decanter’s Roussillon tasting. Last month Michel Chapoutier has even sent a letter to Decanter to give his point of view on Roussillon: “As a vigneron coming from the ancestral terroirs of the Rhône Valley, the first time I ventured beyond the Rhône to discover new terroir was in Roussillon. The geological diversity and varied soils I found there particularly impressed me. It is easy in all Mediterranean climates to look for a certain concentration with the help of the sun, and the winemaker must seek to constrain this solar influence to let the soil express itself. In Roussillon, the wines at the time were sunny in style but I was surprised by the subtlety that some estates achieved, erasing the sun’s influence in favour of the terroir. The region’s entry-level wines have been key to its success too. In unfamiliar regions, the grand terroirs will only be understood if they are supported by more approachable wines. Those of Roussillon have real lusciousness, are food-friendly, and are probably the best value-for-money wines in Europe. If we want young Europeans to discover great wines of culture, they need an introduction. This is the beauty of the Roussillon region, which is unique in offering wines of great terroir that are luscious and affordable, together with pockets of legendary wines of excellence.”
To know more about these 2013 Roussillon wines, here is a link to Jeb Dunnuck’s report.
