Sharon Bowman
Sharon Bowman
Yesterday I got the chance to meet Herv Bizeul and taste the lineup of current Clos des Fes offerings. I didn't know much about the domain except that it is "trs mdiatique" and that prices per bottle are usually what other good wines of the region go for by the case or two.
Navely, I thought: it must be good. It must be so, so good.
Well, at least Herv Bizeul is a super person to talk to: open, affable, level-headed, a good listener and answerer of questions, with a perfect lucidity about how he goes at what he does and a great sense of humor.
The wines were as follows:
2006 Domaine du Clos des Fes Grenache Blanc Vieilles Vignes - things started auspiciously with this heady white. A vin de plaisir if ever one were, it has a taut frame of floral fronds and piquant, sourish white fruit, with a slight tannic bite and some residual sugar that I didn't mind at all. It's mostly (like 90%) grenache blanc, the balance being grenache gris, from centenary vines, raised in stainless steel.
2006 "Les Sorcires" - this is where things started to get iffy. A light, early-drinking cuve, equal parts grenache, carignan and syrah, it had a pretty nose and a first flash of fruit & pepper, then turned into a vast washout on the palate: hollow in the middle and sliding down the drain to absence of aroma or persistence in no time flat. A miss.
2005 Clos des Fes Vieilles Vignes - this is where the nomenclature for Bizeul's wines gets weird, too. This cuve, an intermediary one, is on a lower rung in his hierarchy than "Le" Clos des Fes, despite being VV. Guess the "Le" gives an edge up. (And, by the bye, all of these wines are in the appellation Ctes du Roussillon, except the white, which, since it doesn't conform to the INAO's varietal requirements, is a Vin de Pays des Ctes Catalanes.) OK. That accepted, we run into some oak on the nose. Yes, new oak. On the palate, the thing is a bit hot, a bit tannic and bitter, and comes out like your average Chteauneuf with some peppery business. Very little pleasure. For 31, I can find better. Way better.
2005 Le Clos des Fes - this's got an even more caramelly, oaky nose. Knee-jerk "appealing." On the palate, it is blandly international. A bit fatty, with smoky, peppery notes, as well as mint and licorice, it was still offensively, well, oaked and placeless. Are we in the Rhne? South America? California? Dunno. Sells for 60.
2005 La Petite Sibrie - this is the luxury cuve (234 a pop!), from a parcel of hundred-plus-year-old grenache, which is ouill with mourvdre and syrah. Handled with kid gloves and raised in thrumming new oak. This wine was dense, sweet, a little like a pot of gooseberry jam on the stove, with interesting wildflower notes. But it wasn't pleasure-giving, and the price? Come on. I said to him, "So, this is meant for long cellaring?" and got an intricate response that can be boiled down to: "Maybe." Guess lots of people drink it young. Several hundred bottles go to a Swiss collector each year. Lucky guy.
Navely, I thought: it must be good. It must be so, so good.
Well, at least Herv Bizeul is a super person to talk to: open, affable, level-headed, a good listener and answerer of questions, with a perfect lucidity about how he goes at what he does and a great sense of humor.
The wines were as follows:
2006 Domaine du Clos des Fes Grenache Blanc Vieilles Vignes - things started auspiciously with this heady white. A vin de plaisir if ever one were, it has a taut frame of floral fronds and piquant, sourish white fruit, with a slight tannic bite and some residual sugar that I didn't mind at all. It's mostly (like 90%) grenache blanc, the balance being grenache gris, from centenary vines, raised in stainless steel.
2006 "Les Sorcires" - this is where things started to get iffy. A light, early-drinking cuve, equal parts grenache, carignan and syrah, it had a pretty nose and a first flash of fruit & pepper, then turned into a vast washout on the palate: hollow in the middle and sliding down the drain to absence of aroma or persistence in no time flat. A miss.
2005 Clos des Fes Vieilles Vignes - this is where the nomenclature for Bizeul's wines gets weird, too. This cuve, an intermediary one, is on a lower rung in his hierarchy than "Le" Clos des Fes, despite being VV. Guess the "Le" gives an edge up. (And, by the bye, all of these wines are in the appellation Ctes du Roussillon, except the white, which, since it doesn't conform to the INAO's varietal requirements, is a Vin de Pays des Ctes Catalanes.) OK. That accepted, we run into some oak on the nose. Yes, new oak. On the palate, the thing is a bit hot, a bit tannic and bitter, and comes out like your average Chteauneuf with some peppery business. Very little pleasure. For 31, I can find better. Way better.
2005 Le Clos des Fes - this's got an even more caramelly, oaky nose. Knee-jerk "appealing." On the palate, it is blandly international. A bit fatty, with smoky, peppery notes, as well as mint and licorice, it was still offensively, well, oaked and placeless. Are we in the Rhne? South America? California? Dunno. Sells for 60.
2005 La Petite Sibrie - this is the luxury cuve (234 a pop!), from a parcel of hundred-plus-year-old grenache, which is ouill with mourvdre and syrah. Handled with kid gloves and raised in thrumming new oak. This wine was dense, sweet, a little like a pot of gooseberry jam on the stove, with interesting wildflower notes. But it wasn't pleasure-giving, and the price? Come on. I said to him, "So, this is meant for long cellaring?" and got an intricate response that can be boiled down to: "Maybe." Guess lots of people drink it young. Several hundred bottles go to a Swiss collector each year. Lucky guy.
