WTN: 2005 Dom de l'Hortus Coteaux du Languedoc Pic St. Loup

2005 Domaine de l'Hortus Coteaux du Languedoc Pic St. Loup Bergerie de l'Hortus Classique[/b] - France, Languedoc Roussillon, Languedoc, Coteaux du Languedoc Pic St. Loup (2/15/2009)

A GSM blend (40/40/20). Lighter style Languedoc. Very nice reddish fruit profile with interesting saddle leather and floral perfume on the nose. Quite approachable. No oak at all which is appealing and makes this very food friendly. Not a cellar candidate, but at ~$14, I'll be buying more for short term consumption.

Went well with chicken breasts stuffed with goat cheese and sun dried tomato pesto.

Redwinger

Recognized domaine there. Think many Pic St Loup need some time in the cellar so this does sound great for current drinking! Nice.

http://www.wineanorak.com/hortus.htm

http://www.thewinedoctor.com/tastingspr ... rtus.shtml

Bob-
Thanks for the links. Nice bits of background there.
I was also a surprised, pleasantly, at how approachable this was. NJ, never a big fan of wines from the South of France, gave this very positive comments, especially when she learned the price.
Bill

This might be a domaine that Tim has some knowledge of? I tried the liquor board website here and no Hortus is to be found in Alberta. Clavel is another one absent!

Jean Orliac of Domaine de l'Hortus is a fairly regular visitor to tastings in Belgium. Although the quality is good, I have always found other estates on show whose wines I prefer so I don't think that I have ever had a Hortus in my cellar; I particularly find the flagship red "Grande Cuvée" a touch too woody for my taste. Jean Orliac is also a touch pretentious in manner, unlike most from his region.

I agree the L'Hortus 'Grande Cuvee' can be a little over-oaked at first, but I've found that if you give it a few years, it settles down. I had the 2001 vintage a few weeks ago, and it was quite an elegant, tasty wine. But the 2001 was a great vintage...