2010 Mas Conscience "Ciel Cieux" Vin de Pays de l'Herault

SKU #1085933 89 points Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

My proselytizing on behalf of Cinsault when I last visited here (and tasted the Vidals on Sylvain Fadat's Les Servieres) was so convincing - at least, to hear Laurent Vidal tell it - that when a short while later a parcel of 50 year old Cinsault very near to his oldest Carignan came up for sale, he saw it as something of a sign; took the bait; and made these grapes the soloist in a new cuvee, 2010 Cieux. (Actually, there was a 2009, but not a bottle could be found to show me.) Fresh cherries shadowed by esterous suggestions of kirsch in the nose and stimulatingly tinged with the bitterness of their pits inform a juicy and refreshing palate. Subtly bitter-sweet floral and herbal notes emerge with aeration and the caressing, silken texture - probably in part a function of low-sulfur bottling - adds to this wine's irresistible drinkability. I'm guessing it will be best drunk over the next couple of years (and at close to cellar temperature). (8/ 2011)

K&L Notes

Additional notes from Wine Advocate: "From chalky and cobbled soils proximate to Puechabon and St.-Jean-de-Fos – including sites almost on the rim of the Herault gorge - Laurent and Genevieve Vidal are continuing to render some of the more distinctively, indeed diversely delicious wines in the Terrasses du Larzac." (08/11) 13% abv.