L'HEXAGONE CAVE À VIN IS AN EXCLUSIVE WINE IMPORT AND RETAIL OPERATION THAT WORKS WITH ONLY THE HIGHEST QUALITY WINE PRODUCERS FROM FRANCE.

Grape(s): 20% Grenache, 20% Mourvèdre, 60% Syrah

Frederic Pourtalie – who inherited his family’s extensive Puechabon and Aniane vineyards just over a decade ago, but retains only their best fruit – displays the sort of ambition as well as vinous results one would expect on learning that he is a protege of nearby Grange des Peres’ proprietor Laurent Vaille. Some of Pourtalie’s cobbled, Chateauneuf-like, south-facing acreage in Aniane is capable of ripening Mourvedre – a favorite grape for him – by mid-September. Most of the estate’s Syrah – in northeast- and northwest-facing parcels of ochre-colored chalk resembling that at Mas Daumas Gassac – was planted by his father with an old, local selection in 1980. (A small portion of Syrah on cobbles is subject to a separate bottling, which I did not taste.) The reds here are marked by an absence of new wood, with small barrels 2-3 years old for Syrah and Mourvedre, and even older for Grenache. The wine is aged 24 months in barrels, without collage or filtration. The tannins of the red cuvée are velvety and refined to the extreme and possesses an exceptional fruitiness, encompassing all of the serenity of the “grands vins,” with a style absolutely natural and without showing off.

The 2009 shows off a brilliant tannic structure that is velvety soft and airy but which will allow the wine to age effortlessly. In the mouth the fruit flavors are ripe and full but very elegant, and with a noticeable and lovely mineral presence.

Bettane&Dessauve 17,5/20. LRVF; 17,5/20.

Maturity: Now-2024