Today at the weekly wine tasting at Hope Valley Bottle Shop centred around the wines of Laurent Miquel. Laurent left his engineering background in 1996 in order to pursue his father’s passion for winemaking. His vineyards are all located in the Languedoc region of southern France.
The first pour of the day was the 2011 Laurent Miquel Chardonnay, and it had a middle-yellow tone at the edge, but was very light straight on. It had very few legs, but the ones that were there were medium thickness and slow. It had a very prominent citrus (primarily lemon) aroma, but there were some scents of apricot and maybe even a little honey in the background. It had a fantastic balance of fruit and acidity (especially at the finish), and a lovely minerality about it. In fact, for the amazing price of $9.99 USD (for the sale today), I decided that it would be a good one to take home.
The second offering was the 2011 Laurent Miquel Rosé, which was a blend of 70% Cinsault and 30% Syrah. It had a light peach colour, with medium, very slow legs. I picked up faint scents of melon and peach, but they didn’t come through very prominently in terms of flavour. Being very fruit-forward, I found it to be a little too acidic in the mid-palate.
The third wine was the 2010 Laurent Miquel Syrah Grenache, which was 70% Syrah and 30% Grenache. It had a medium purpleish-red colour with very low contrast between the centre and the edge, with medium but quick legs. I picked up notes of white pepper (likely from the Syrah), and the intense berry flavours from the Grenache. It had medium body, but was highly tannic (almost astringent), which was a bit off-putting.
The last pour of the day was the 2007 Laurent Miquel ‘Saga Pegot,’ which is 100% Syrah. It had a deep garnet colour which allowed very little transparency to it. It had medium, but quick legs. There were great aromas of licorice, and even some drenched cotton (I know it sounds like a terrible descriptor, but it added an incredible depth). There was a nice mid-palate mouth feel to it, and it had good acid. Though I don’t usually like Syrah, I found this one to be particularly pleasant, and think that it would be quite nice without the accompaniment of food.
Cheers,
Zach
