WINE & SPIRITS MAGAZINE, JUNE 2015

100 GREAT BUYS. THE YEAR’S BEST BRANDS FOR VALUE.
2015 BEST LANGUEDOC-ROUSSILLON WINES

88 PTS CHATEAU MARIS SYRAH LES PLANELS 2011

BEST BUY

From a vineyard planted in 1982, this Syrah is lush and spicy, bolstered by generous lashing and vanilla from oak. After a few days open, the wood tones subside and firm, ferrous minerality comes up, suggesting this will do well with a few years in the bottle.

The Soils

Dark brown and red coloured soils.
The grapes for this wine come from vineyards planted on hard and soft limestone and alluvial soils. The texture is balanced and is light at the top, becoming increasingly heavy the deeper you go. The vertical clay migration reduces the carbon levels.

variety
100% syrah

The Wine
Vinification : The juice is vinified in oak tanks and during the four week-long maceration is gently pumped over with some punching of the cap.
Ageing : 100% in oak for 12 months.
Tasting Note :
Appearance : Deep red with mauvish hints.
Nose : Primary aromas of tar with smoky notes. Secondary aromas are of blackcurrant, prune and liquorice.
Palate : Complex with a powerful presence in the mouth. Balanced and silky smooth with a smoky, liquorice finish.

AT : 3.49g/l
PH : 3.58
SR : 1.6g/l
% 15.15/

2009 Château Maris Syrah Les Planels (France, Languedoc Roussillon, Languedoc, Minervois-La Livinière)

92 Points

The largest scaled in the lineup, and also the most modern, with noticeable sweet oak, the 2009 Château Maris Syrah Les Planels is 100% Syrah, from the estate’s top plots, that was aged for 12 months in oak before being bottled unfined and unfiltered. Formerly known as their Old Vine Syrah, it exhibits terrific aromatics of crème de cassis, raspberry liqueur, smoked beef, spice-cabinet and hints of bacon fat that carry into a full-bodied, gorgeously proportioned and balanced Syrah. This too needs an hour of air to shine, has fantastic richness, and a juicy, lively finish and overall feel that keeps you coming back for more. It will drink well for upwards of 5-8 years, possibly even longer. (92 pts)

90 Points

Issue: Aug 31, 2012

Les Planels 2009

"A brooding, powerful red, with dense flavors of dark chocolate, dried raspberry and spice that are supported by plenty of tannins. Features smoke and spice on the long, rich finish. Best from 2014 through 2018. 400 cases made." –KM

David Schildknecht, Wine Advocate, June 2011

Les Planels (Old Vine Syrah) 2009

92 Pts

Redolent of diverse smoked meats; rosemary; and confitured dark cherry, and blueberry, the Maris 2008 Syrah Old Vines benefits from glycerin-richness in conveying a lush, plush impressions, while retaining a primary juiciness that largely overrides the bit of alcoholic heat generated in its finish. Black pepper, clove, rosemary, bacon, subtly tart berry skins, and saliva-inducing salinity combine for a pungent, invigorating, palate-staining finish that offers perfect counterpoint to this wine's sheer richness of fruit. This was not harvested until late September, surely a factor in its phenolic diversity. I suspect that this terrific value will be worth following for the better part of a decade and quite possibly acquire even more complexity.

Due to have been bottled a few weeks after I tasted it in April, the Maris 2009 Syrah Old Vine reflects its ripeness of fruit in tar and licorice as well as cooked beet root and confitured black fruits. Intensely aromatic, full-bodied, and texturally lush, this finishes with low-toned earthiness allied to striking sweetness of fruit. A sense of mineral dimension and hints of bright berry skin edge emerged as it took on air, and I suspect it will grow in bottle - perhaps even in its final weeks in tank - and be worth following for at least 6-8 years.

Chateau Maris “Les Planels" Syrah 2009- Gold Medal Signature Bio

Signature Bio is the largest organic wine competition in the world held in France by AIVB.

2007 Chateau Maris Syrah Old Vine (now known as "Les Planels" since 09 vintage)

92-93 points

Minervois, Languedoc Roussillon, France. Wine Advocate # 183 - Jun 2009. David Schildknecht

"A reductive hint of cassis leaf needed to be shaken off of the Maris 2007 Syrah Old Vine, a bottling based on the estate’s best block, surrounded by garrigue on a deep clay hillside near La Liviniere. A wine of exceptional purity, extreme black fruit ripeness, and a velvety texture emerges, girded by ultra-fine tannins and enlivened by springs of fresh berry juiciness as singular in the context of wine this ripe as is the spring that apparently literally lies beneath this vineyard. A small proportion of this cuvee is kept in tank to preserve freshness, but the harmony of oak (un-toasted at this address) and fruit is also perfectly judged, i.e. the former is scarcely noticeable as such. Cardamom, ginger, black pepper, pencil lead, and sweet floral suggestions add to the complex allure of this long-finishing beauty that deserves to be entered in a World Syrah contest."