Gregory Hecht and Francois Bannier’s negociant partnership – entering its seventh year – is singularly quality-oriented, and their connections with growers and tireless tasting trips throughout the Languedoc and Roussillon (350-400 visits each year) are rewarding wine lovers wherever their limited production is sold. Make no mistake: wines under the Hecht & Bannier label can […]
88/100 Constituated primarily of Syrah from Saint Chinian and the Terrases du Larzac, and Grenache from Roussillon. The wine is so exuberantly and insistently redolent of fresh black raspberry, so salty, incisively bright, pungently herbal, and spicy, that it should act like a tonic on uninitiated and jaded palates alike. It certainly stimulated my appetite […]
(90-91)/100 Hecht & Bannier’s 2007 Minervois leans heavily on Syrah from La Liviniere, along with some Grenache and Carignan. Prior to bottling (and with the blend subject to small final adjustments), it smells of cassis, marjoram, and white pepper. Lush and silken in texture on the palate, it combines richness with vivacity and freshness of […]
(92-93)/100 The Hecht & Bannier 2007 Saint-Chinian comes from Syrah, Grenache, very little Mourvedre, and little or no Carignan “as far as we know,” they say, laughing, since old “Grenache” blocks are by no means certified. The fruit represents all three basic soils of the appellation: schist, chalk, and sandstone, and a portion of the […]
(92-93)/100 The 2007 Cotes du Roussillon Villages from geologically diverse sites in a half dozen outstanding villages is composed primarily of Grenache, with smaller amounts of Carignan, Syrah, and Mourvedre. “The Carignan” from high elevation Belesta and Caramany “is key,” maintains Hecht, because Grenache from schist in Maury (which make up about a quarter of […]
(93-94)/100 From Syrah and Mourvedre grown on pure schist, Hecht and Bannier’s 2007 Faugeres – like its predecessors – will spend close to two years in demi-muid. “Every year,” remarks Bannier, “we have this question about how far we can go into Mourvedre,” and thus far the answer appears to have been “ever deeper.” The […]
90/100 Mint, marjoram, rosemary, roasted meats, and black fruit compote are liberally doled out to the nose and palate from Hecht and Bannier’s 2006 Minervois, which favors overwhelmingly Syrah, plus some Grenache and scarcely any Carignan or Mourvedre. A welcome fresh, subtly tart juiciness (reflecting the vintage’s relatively high acidity) builds in the finish, while […]
89+/100 Leaning heavily on Syrah from schist, the Hecht & Bannier 2006 Saint-Chinian was nearly two years in a combination of tank and barrels. Smoke and crushed stone seem to hover over the glass, and an adamant mineral tone persists throughout, with bitter- and tartly-edged black fruits reflecting the relatively low pH of the vintage. […]
91/100 The Hecht & Bannier 2006 Cotes du Roussillon Villages smells of cedar, coconut (from a significant proportion of new wood), cherry, marjoram, and smoke. Stimulating hints of cherry pit bitterness along with smoke, herbal pungency, and graphite and crushed stone add to the dynamic impression conveyed by unusually fresh fruit, leading to a long, […]
91/100 A hint of coconut and lanolin (from a new demi-muid incorporated into the blend) mingles with smoke-tinged black cherry in the nose of Hecht & Bannier’s 2006 Faugeres. With an impressive sense of grip and sheer density, yet of fine-grained tannins, too, this offers an invigorating combination of fruit skin and rhubarb-like (vintage typical) […]
