Château Haut-Gléon
The Duhamel family's 37 ha (90 acres) of vines (15 different varieties) nestle among a huge expanse of wild and pretty forest and scrubland, lying between Durban and Portel in "Paradise Valley" on hillsides at up to 350 metres (1200 feet above sea level). They make a rather big range including bag-in-box and brandy even and, although I found their white and rosé tasted below very attractive, I'd have to try the reds again, as I had a bit of a problem with two vintages of the Haut-Gléon Corbières (especially the 2005: funny intrusive old wood or musty/corked?). And overall, these wines are kinda pricey considering... They have good distribution around the world: see their website for details (well done, by the way, not many have this amount of useful info on them). The following were tasted at the enigmatically named "Salon du X" - it's not that much of a mystery, actually, a tasting organised by their agent Xavier Peyrot des Gachons with a dozen Languedoc & Roussillon winegrowers present (there were originally 10 in his "gang", I think) hence the X - in April 2010 at Domaine Gayda's impressive winery & restaurant complex, found between Limoux and Castelnaudary.
2008 Corbières white (Roussanne, Grenache blanc, Marsanne) - quite exotic and honeyed with light spice and toast notes; nice rounded creamy mouth-feel with spicy undertones, lush and oily yet well-balanced finish. €15.50 87+
2008 Grenache gris rosé Vin de Pays de la Vallée du Paradis (13.5%) - a bit different for a pale-style rosé: closed on the nose to start, building up to oily raspberry aromas/flavours; quite fat, weighty and textured actually vs attractive light bitter twist. €9.50 85-87
2008 Le Petit Gléon Corbières red (Syrah, Grenache, Carignan) - ripe, juicy and easy style; has a tad of grip too vs soft and quite simple palate. €6.50 80-83
2006 Haut-Gléon Corbières red (Grenache, Syrah, Carignan) - spicy upfront oak, again that wood's a bit odd and intrusive? Although it has fair depth of fruit and power. Not sure? €13
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