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What We Say 2004 Cuvèe K
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Mission Codename: Secret Formula ‘K’
Operative: Agent White
Objective: Revisit Château le Bouïs and acquire their elusive Cuvèe K
Mission Status: Accomplished!
Current Winery: Château le Bouïs
Wine Subject: 2004 Cuvèe K
Winemaker: Pierre Vialard
Backgrounder:
Corbières AOC, located near the town of Narbonne in the Languedoc-Roussillon is one of the most diverse appellations in all of France. The Languedoc-Roussilon is France’s largest wine producing region geographically and has over 100,000 acres under vine making it the fifth in total acreage. The variation in varietal which includes Grenache, Syrah, Mourvedre, Carignan among many more and the diverse Terroir and mild coastal climate leads to some of France’s finest yet mostly unknown wines.
Today’s selection is predominantly Syrah and was barrel aged for 12 months before bottling.
Wine Spies Tasting Profile:
Look – Dark and dense, and almost inky in quality and deep purple and almost black in color with garnet and violet hued edges and medium-thick legs that move evenly down the side of the glass.
Smell – Ripe and sweet black fruit with spiced black currant and touches of jammy bilberry and strawberry are layered over toasted and smokey oak with sweet exotic spice, a touch of toasty vanilla and mild cracked pepper notes.
Feel – Smooth and rich, this full-bodied wine has an almost creamy initial attack supported by medium firm ripe tannins and balanced acidity.
Taste – Plush and rich flavors of savory smokey and jammy dark fruit with plum and currants that are well integrated with complex sweet exotic spice, herbal anise toasted oak and a hint floral violet notes.
Finish – This wine finishes long with lingering ripe jammy and spicy fruit.
Conclusion – The 2004 Château le Bouïs Cuvèe K is a classic old-world Syrah with a most unique savory-spice jammy fruit with deep elegant complexity. Rich and plush on the palate and a lingering finish that shows this wine’s finesse. We recommend allowing this wine to open up for at least 30 minutes prior to enjoyment to let this wine’s complex flavors fully evolve. An excellent example of the region’s wine-making style.
Mission Report:
After our recent visit to France we were happy to have met several French families. This of course gives the double benefit of being able to visit great off the beaten path places while we traveled but also the joy of having our French friends visit us here in the United States.
Just recently we had a great visit by one of our new friends. Originally from northeastern France, these covert operatives now lived in the southwest, along the Mediterranean coast. While here we had the joy of take a short flight up and over the vineyards of Santa Ynez just after bud-break. It was one of those perfect Southern California days that perhaps is only topped by a perfect day in the south of France.
Not to be outdone, (and after the flight), we exchanged our impressions of the flight and a couple bottles. I had brought a bottle of a California’s classic, a delicious Reserve Syrah (recently featured), and they had brought today’s featured selection from Château Le Bouïs as representative of Syrah from the Languedoc-Roussillon.
While the wines were completely different in style, tradition, varietals and just about everything else, the one thing they had in common was the fact that there is no better way to toast good friends and share the good life than with a lovely bottle of wine.
A votre santé!
Wine Spies Vineyard Check:
The location of the seaside Château le Bouïs can be seen in this satellite photo.
What the Winery Says
Château Le Bouïs
Awards & Accolades:
Médaille d’Or – Concours Général Agricole 2005
About This Wine:
This wine is made from 100% Syrah. This wine was vinified and aged in oak barrels for 12 months. While still young it has an intense red color and aromas of red fruit, and delicate spice. This wine is rich and silky on the palate with flavors of red fruits and vanilla, followed by an ample and long aftertaste.
Tasting:
- Ruby red robe, violet tints.
- Blackcurrant, vanilla, red fruits aroma, spicy notes
- Rich, elegant, fruity.
- Wine for aging
Winemaking:
- Hand-made crop in tub and grape sorting
- Integral wine-making (exclusively barrel wine-making)
- 70 days maceration
- Temperature control
- Barrel maturing for 12 months
The Vineyard:
The 40 hectares vineyard is located in the amazing surroundings of the Mediterranean Corbières. Facing south on the seaside,the vineyard enjoys the full influence of the very nearby Mediterranean sea which favours smooth ripening.
The Vineyard is known for Carignan, red Grenache, Mourvèdre, Syrah for the reds and rosés; white Grenache, Roussanne and Bourboulenc for the white wines are hand harvested.
The reds offer delicate aromas with hues of read fruits, thyme, garrigue and liquorice. For the whites, the harmony of the aromas of vine peach, apricot, mint and white flowers accompany a long and elegant palate with very little acidity.
Vineyard Details:
- Syrah
- Age: 15/25 years
- Yield: 20 hect / hect
About The Winery:
Some places are like books. Those who can read drive you through the place. Alexis and Albane are among these readers. When they fell in love with this little piece of paradise in the Mediterranean Corbières, they revealed it to non readers. Their enthusiasm and generosity, gave life and taste to this forgotten vineyard, offering their guests the amazing beauty of the true Mediterranean setting.
When they bought the hamlet, only the wine-making cellar was in function. Today, new places have been restored. A refined guest housewas created in the mansion and in an old building. A jazz, wine and tapas bar was created near the tasting cellar. All these new places are fully part of the spirit of the Bouïs, although Alexis and Albane fully dedicate to the creation of their wines and new vintages, they know that welcoming guests as friends is essential to the spirit of the Bouïs.
About The Winemaker:
Pierre Vialard, 29 years old, the oenologist of the Bouis:
“I take as much interest in the quality of the grape and the beauty of the vineyard as in the quality and beauty of the wine. I am happy here, I have decided to live in this area, I have fondness for the Mediterranean taste of great southern wines. I love giving them character, aromatic power, it is for me a great pleasure to make them… and to taste them.”
Very young, amateur and enthusiastic for wine, Pierre, without any family wine link, decides to graduate as enologist from the the University of Toulouse. Two years of biology, a state degree in oenology, he first worked in Roussillon, then joined Château Le Bouis in 2000, a year before Alexis and Albane arrived. New owners, new responsibilities, Pierre Vialard runs a permanent team of 3 persons, 15 to 20 persons during the wine-harvest. He controls the work from the grape to the final produce.
