Claws

Clavel 1999 Coteaux du Languedoc Terroir de la Mejanelle “Copa Santa” (Languedoc) – Clinging by its nails to life and relevancy. Fully resolved and then some, leaving a porcine meat juice, herb-infused broth, and some browned, autumnal appeal in its declining wake. If you’re holding any, don’t. (12/10)

Santa clause

Clavel 1999 Coteaux du Languedoc Terroir de la Mejanelle “Copa Santa” (Languedoc) – Clinging to life, but with one foot in the graduated-care center and the other in a cast. Rough at the core but smooth at the edges, showing salt, sand, and soil with a light waft of baked red berries and a tinny edge of tannin. A little too old, but still a pleasant memory. (12/09)

Count Henri twice

Comte Henri de Colbert “Château de Flaugergues” 2003 Coteaux du Languedoc La Mejanelle (Languedoc) – Rocky and forbidding, dominated by its tannin (which is more sludgy than hard), and while there’s layer upon layer of thick blue fruit, I’d be hard-pressed to identify this as French. It tastes more Californian, or perhaps South African (before they layer on the oak, which blessedly is not an intrusive issue here). Weirdly compelling, but mostly because it’s served amidst a procession of underfruited wines; in the context of other vintages, I think this would be easily put aside. (9/09)

Clavel cavil

Clavel 1999 Coteaux du Languedoc Terroir de la Mejanelle “Les Garrigues” (Languedoc) – Corked. (9/09)

Garrigues Payton

Clavel 1999 Coteaux du Languedoc Terroir de la Mejanelle “Les Garrigues” (Languedoc) – Fully mature, I’d say, even though there’s some scratchy tannin lingering. The “fruit” (mostly gravel-baked herbs, pork, a bit of earth) has softened, leaving an espresso-ground texture behind, and the wine’s starting to lighten and fade on the finish. (10/08)