Boutin “Château La Roque” 2004 Pic Saint Loup “Cuvée les vieilles vignes de Mourvèdre” (Languedoc) – Fulsome, brown, and with a strangely appealing sour note that manages to lift all the less earthy notes to greater prominence. Thus are revealed dark blackberries and boysenberries, perhaps a bit of quince paste, and a peppery finish. Meaty and mushroomy as well. Quite solid with structure and balance. (6/09)

Boutin “Château La Roque” 2004 Pic Saint Loup “Cuvée les vieilles vignes de Mourvèdre” (Languedoc) – Totally disjointed for its first ten minutes of life, though this is hardly an unusual trick for a mourvèdre to pull. Eventually, it calms down, though it’s no smooth-talker. Rough-grit sandpaper is the texture, earthy-smoky aromas of an old, wood-beam attic fill the glass, and the palate is thick without being sludgy. If there’s “fruit,” it’s the sort grown from freshly-laid macadam, though there are suggestions of some deep black residue that might once, in another life, have been the last desiccated offspring of a berry. None of the preceding is particularly unusual for this wine at this stage, though there are some worrisome frays at the edge; coupled with a well-stained cork, I wonder if there might not have been a little more heat than would be ideal in this bottle’s history. (3/09)