Merlot Réserve de Villecours 2006

Description
"France's best-value and most exciting wine region by far" wrote Hugh Johnson about the Languedoc. Who'd have thought that 25 years back, when the region was still a major contributor to the European wine lake, and estate-bottled wines were like gold dust. Then modern technology started creeping in and growers began to receive a premium for the quality of their grapes, rather than the quantity.

Now the Languedoc produces a fabulous range of 'New World' style, varietal vins de pays as well as unique appellation wines from areas such the Minervois, Corbières, Saint-Chinian and many others.

Réserve de Villecours is an exclusive, oak-aged cuvée made for us by Benoît Blancheton - one of France's most notable winemakers and grandson to one of the country's finest coopers. Benoît has made wine in some of the country's best vineyards including Clos de l'Oratoire in Châteauneuf-du-Pape, where his wine was awarded an impressive 93-points by top critic Robert Parker.

For this wine, he has selected two first-class parcels of Merlot - one from the cru hill of La Clape, which is responsible for some of the Languedoc's finest wines, and the other in Villeveyrac, close to the renowned 'First Growth' estate of Daumas Gassac.

Middleton Guardian April 08 2008, France

Concours National des Vins de Pays Primeurs - Paris 2008, France