90/100 Hecht & Bannier’s 2008 Languedoc incorporates primarily Syrah and a bit of Carignan the Terrasses du Larzac; Syrah from Saint Chinian; and Grenache from the Agly Valley of Roussillon, a mix that held essentially constant for 2009. This is pungently redolent of garrigue and hedge flowers along with distilled essences of purple plum and […]
88/100 The Hecht & Bannier 2009 Languedoc – whose sources are virtually the same as those of its immediate predecessor, and which had only been in bottle for a couple of weeks when I tasted it – once again offers sappy concentration of black fruits (approaching confiture) with a bittersweet cast thanks to fruit pit […]
90/100 Bottled in July, 2010, Hecht and Bannier’s 2008 Minervois, strikes pungently herbal themes – here, especially, lavender and rosemary – such as found in the corresponding A.O.C. Languedoc bottling, allied to tart-edged but ripe, juicy cherry and a saliva-inducing evocation of salted pan drippings. Bite of black pepper and piquant pungency of rosemary add […]
(88-89+)/100 Hecht and Bannier’s 2009 Minervois – assembled in tank when I tasted, and set to be bottled in July – was given a bit of exposure to some new demi-muids (whereas, for example, the 2008 had virtually no new wood) and at least temporarily that may have robbed the undeniably concentrated and ripe black […]
(90-91+)/100 Hecht and Bannier’s 2010 Minervois is as usual Syrah-dominated, with Grenache and Carignan (whose levels had yet to be fine-tuned) filling merely supporting roles, and despite my skepticism about the Syrah-centric appellation rules and official politics in this sector of the Languedoc, one has to say that Hecht and Bannier’s bottlings make a strong […]
93/100 The Hecht & Bannier 2008 Cotes du Roussillon Villages displays the vibratory kinetics; abundance of vivacious fruit – yet here possessed of almost liqueur-like sweetness; and complexity of mineral elements that one has come to associate with the best wines of this vintage. Lily and heliotrope mingle with the aromas of ripe black raspberry, […]
(90-91)/100 Chocolate-covered plum and cherry; cassis and blackberry headily scent and lushly saturate the plush palate of Hecht & Bannier’s 2009 Cotes du Roussillon Villages a less complex or dynamic wine – tasted from tank just prior to bottling – than its 2008 counterpart (which was a hard act to follow by any measure) but […]
(91-92+)/100 Tasted as a pre-assemblage from barrel, the Hecht & Bannier 2010 Cotes du Roussillon Villages is colorfully fruited with suggestions of black raspberry, blackberry, cassis, and blueberry, all alluringly wreathed in heliotrope and lily. Overtly chalky and smoky crushed stone and peat notes serve for counterpoint on a richly-textured, ripely-fruited yet vivacious palate, and […]
92/100 Speaking (as I was under « Minervois ») of « Syrah-centrism, » that grape also dominates Hecht & Bannier’s 2008 Saint-Chinian, with support from Grenache and Mourvedre. This vintage is also dominated by fruit from schistic rather than chalk-clay vineyards. High-toned kirsch mingles with thyme, arbor vitae, and floral distillates on the nose. Bright, sappy cherry-dominated fruit picks […]
(93-94)/100 In keeping with the warm, stressful conditions of its vintage, Hecht & Bannier 2009 Saint-Chinian – due to be bottled this summer – favors Syrah from chalk-clay rather than schist sites. (Usually, more Syrah from Berlou goes into this blend; this year, it was diverted into the A.O.C. Languedoc bottling.) A chewy streak of […]
