From several geologically diverse high-altitude parcels, ancient Grenache and Carignan vines along with some younger Syrah are the building blocks of the red 2007 L’Elephant. The sheer viscosity, sweetness, and intensity of this wine are exceptional. There is however something of a nearby reference point in the Petite Siberie of Clos des Fees. Cherry and licorice candy, creme de cassis, vanilla, and chocolate in the nose lead to a strikingly fat, thick, sweet palate, on which the intensity of the wine’s tannin gradually emerges. Perhaps it is partly on account of the sheer contrast with such candied and liqueur-like fruit, but surely also on account of the dominance of new Allier barriques that drying and harshness of tannins comes creeping into the finish. At 15.3%, this is certainly not excessive in the alcohol department compared to its peers, nor do I notice significant heat. Bitter dark chocolate and a faintly bitter vegetal note are welcome in the finish insofar as they offer some contrast with the sheer sweetness. Clearly, some tasters will find this more appealing than I do, but how it will mature is certainly an intriguing question. The wine had only been in bottle for three weeks when I tasted it, so allowance probably should be made for that. A world-traveling long-time wine merchant with Roussillon roots, Renaud Chastagnol says he has fulfilled his life’s dream with this truly garage-sized winery in Vingrau, where with wine-making assistance from his friend Michel Tardieu and financial assistance from Singapore investors who appear to accept few limits on yield-control, biodynamic strictures, new wood, or packaging, he is turning out wines of phenomenal concentration. Just what lies behind the almost impenetrable wall of viscous sweet fruit and oak-enhanced tannin in one’s glass, how it might mature in bottle, and even whether it’s any fun to drink, are questions to which the answers, I suspect, will differ according to one’s temperament and taste. One thing for sure: these are extreme wines.A Bourgeois Family Selection (various importers), Swannanoa, NC; tel. (704) 837-2441

A huge nose of cassis, blackberry liqueur and black pepper catches your attention from the glass of 2006 L’Elephant red. Amazingly rich, full, viscous, and sweetly black fruited, it slathers the palate with chocolate, too. A hint of heat and almost splintery woodiness are largely subsumed under dark waves of fruit, but there is no sense of refreshment to be had from this, and only a slight hint of roasted meat and crushed stone suggests that complexities of an animal and mineral sort might gain in prominence as the wine ages. I sampled this wine not too long after bottling, and then again in December at the domaine, confirming that although overt oakiness remains quite evident, the underlying tannins here will not be easily resolved.A world-traveling long-time wine merchant with Roussillon roots, Renaud Chastagnol says he has fulfilled his life’s dream with this truly garage-sized winery in Vingrau, where with wine-making assistance from his friend Michel Tardieu and financial assistance from Singapore investors who appear to accept few limits on yield-control, biodynamic strictures, new wood, or packaging, he is turning out wines of phenomenal concentration. Just what lies behind the almost impenetrable wall of viscous sweet fruit and oak-enhanced tannin in one’s glass, how it might mature in bottle, and even whether it’s any fun to drink, are questions to which the answers, I suspect, will differ according to one’s temperament and taste. One thing for sure: these are extreme wines.A Bourgeois Family Selection (various importers), Swannanoa, NC; tel. (704) 837-2441