When I bought the Chateau la Roque Coteaux Languedoc Pic-St-Loup Mourvèdre Vielles Viegnes 1998 a full decade ago, it was barely $10, and I was so constantly impressed by this wine that I decided to lay one down for a while and see what it happened. Thankfully, it matured gracefully. Still an impressively dark purple in the glass, the fruit had faded somewhat, though there were still hints of cherry and plum poking around the edges, and what was left was soft and alluring, with just a little bit of bitter tannin in there along with plenty earthy herbal notes. That balance of rusticity and sophistication maintained itself throughout the wine’s subsequent life – all of a few hours, as it was simply too irresistible to let sit a second night.
As it happens, I’d been reading Kermit Lynch’s memoir Adventures on the Wine Route in the bath earlier that day. Published in 1988, it is considered one of the greatest books ever written on wine, especially on the merits of traditional wine-making, and I can absolutely see why. Quite simply, it was so vivid in its descriptions, so enticing in its championing of old French values, that it sent me to the cellar. The fact that this Chateau La Roque turned out to be a Kermit Lynch import was partly coincidence (I didn’t notice as much until I pulled out the cork) and yet also no coincidence at all, because the name of a trusted importer on the back of a wine provides at least part of the assurance that a wine is worth buying. It’s thanks to people like Mr. Lynch that we still have such fine wine as this – and so inexpensive as well – reaching our American dinner tables. Cheers.