Bel Air Ouÿ 2011 - 3 Marie 2009

A table  dimanche dernier, après un Valandraud blanc 2011, cette bouteille de Bel Air Ouÿ 2011 était tout simplement délicieuse, une confirmation pour nous de la bonne compréhension du millésime : nez complexe de cerises noires et de brioche vanillée, bouche douce et suave, belle longueur et équilibre dans un registre léger et peu puissant, pas de quoi avoir un 100 points mais de quoi satisfaire à table les amateurs de vins modernes de la Rive droite de Bordeaux.

Les 3 Marie 2009  de Thune vin Calvet, noté 92-93 en Juin 2011 pour le Wine Advocate  par David Schildknecht  avec ce commentaire en Américain :

“Thunevin and Calvet’s 2011 Cotes du Roussillon Villages Les Trois Marie follows the path blazed by its 2010 predecessor, with its Grenache unaccompanied and raised in foudre. Hints of caramelized resin and coconut are evident as a result of the newness of oak, though this dovetails nicely with the sweet, seamless sense of seamless ripeness – rather reminiscent of the corresponding 2009, as is the surprising degree of lift engendered in a sappily-sustained finish. Hints of mint and white pepper add interest to a wine that may well – in contrast with its stable mates – prove marginally less-impressive than its 2010 counterpart, though it is still going to richly repay return visits through at least 2022.

Jean-Roger Calvet and off-site partner Jean-Luc Thunevin (for more about whose collaboration and its evolution consult my reports in issue 183 and 195) continue a trend toward gentle pumping-over rather than pumping-down. Maturation is increasingly in demi-muids – supplemented, as always by tanks – and a third foudre was recently added, barriques having meantime slipped to third if not fourth-place among vinificatory vessels (and with a change in tonnelier that I can only welcome, too). The result, predictably, is wines with more vivid fruit and nuance without sacrificing the least bit of richness, demonstrating that they had nothing to lose but a certain superficial tanninity and caramelization of oak resin. Another trend to which Calvet readily testifies: more emphasis on showcasing Carignan and Grenache, with Mourvedre getting its own less-expensive cuvee and Syrah appearing primarily in a supporting role, specifically in “Hugo.” (New pure Macabeu and pure Grenache Gris whites speak to an analogous trend toward showcasing individual autochthones.) A final trend toward earlier harvest in 2008-2010 has, as Calvet points out, been driven by drought conditions and heat, whereas 2011 offered greater flexibility. Still, even about 2011 he remarks apropos Carignan “better to pick it a day early than a day late.” Calvet compares 2011 to the even ripening, generous fruit and harmony achieved in 2007, except with significantly higher yields, though at 40 hectoliters per hectare on his most productive young vines, these are hardly what growers in most of the world would call “high.” Picking was early and handling including vinification especially gentle in 2012 – encompassing a significant share of whole-berry but stem-free vatting, notably for Carignan – to compensate for the effects of the hail that hit Maury especially hard. “It wasn’t a vintage for seeking a lot of extraction,” he opines, “though our Mourvedre was an exception insofar as it was less-impacted by the hail.”

Ouvert le 28  janvier, mis au réfrigérateur bouché avec son bouchon et bu donc le 2  février, était d’une puissance et d’une netteté incomparable et commed éjà dit, mérite comme La Petite Sibérie d’Hervé Bozeul, des scores supérieurs à 95/100 !

Polémique : juste pour faire une petite comparaison, le journaliste (commerçant) Jean Emmanuel Simond, en charge du Languedoc et du Roussillon a fait disparaitre notre vin, installé auparavant par Bettane et Desseauve, du top des propriétés sélectionnés dans la RVF et son guide. Mais, heureusement pourrais je dire, le guide Bettane & Desseauve des vins de France accorde à notre propriété 3 verres, comme Gauby ou Bizeul, Abbé Rous, Coume del  Mas, Gardiés, Tour Vieille, Roc des Anges, Rectorie, Fagayra ! Et je ne peux que vous inviter à lire les commentaires sur nos vins, 3 Marie ou notre Maury