Château Meunier St-Louis
Martine and Philippe Pasquier-Meunier have over 20 years experience behind them to bring out the best of their sizeable 120 ha estate (300 acres). The white varieties are also all 20+ years old, which is probably one factor behind the latent quality of their attractive "Prestige" white wine, grown on "pebbly quartz sandstone terraces," as you do! The reds are at slight altitude as well but on stoney clay-limestone sites, so there. Their top cuvée "Exégèse" is sourced from "the prettiest hills" (someone once said if a vineyard is beautiful, it must be good!) lying in the northernmost tip of the Boutenac appellation zone and selected grapes including their oldest Carignan. I tried these wines over dinner (10th March 2010) with Martine (among other Boutenac and Minervois owner/winemakers) at Le Marie-Jean restaurant in Sète (that link goes to a post on my other blog), and at the Languedoc "en primeur" tastings that week (see link below):
2009 Prestige rosé Corbières (Syrah, Grenache, Carignan) - elegant and very crisp, attractive and versatile style. 83-85
2009 Prestige white (Grenache blanc, Bourboulenc, Marsanne, Rolle = Vermentino) - aromatic banana/pineapple notes with gummy lees-tinged intensity; nice rounded mouth-feel vs light bitter twist, "sweet" fruit vs mineral bite. 87
2005 Exégèse Corbières-Boutenac (Syrah, Grenache, Carignan) - quite oaky, sturdy and extracted with lush spicy fruit vs grainy wood; not sure at first, in the end the fruit comes through more although it's still pretty chunky, firm and tight for an 05. One to try again sometime...
2009 Exégèse (Syrah/Carignan/Grenache) - smoky bacon oak with ripe fruit and wild herb undertones; dry vs rounded tannins with minty finish. Good but far too expensive at €32! 87+ (unfinished sample from my 2009 Languedoc report).
UPDATE: more here (May 2011, Corbières report).
Saint-Louis, 11200 Boutenac. Tel: 04 68 27 09 69, www.pasquier-meunier.com.
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