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| Drinking Windows and Values |
| Community Tasting History |
| Community Tasting Notes (average 90.4 pts. and median of 91 pts. in 33 notes) - hiding notes with no text | | | Tasted by ondevall on 12/3/2023: Inky, dark fruit, notes of maturity and still well-balanced with a certain complexity, but structurally definitely over the hill. Drink last week! (108 views) | | | Tasted by ondevall on 10/13/2017 & rated 89 points: Inky, dark fruit, notes of maturity and still well-balanced with a certain compexity, but structurally definitely over the hill. (1102 views) | | | Tasted by schwollonson on 9/28/2017 & rated 92 points: My last bottle. I have been drinking this wine for the last nine or so years and it never let me down. Full mouth of fruit but nicely structured. Tannins have long gone. A sleeper. You might consider drinking it up now, though. (1085 views) | | | Tasted by schwollonson on 10/4/2015 & rated 89 points: Wasn't that impressed. Tasted somewhat flat. Remember it as being a much bigger wine. Over the top? (1846 views) | | | Tasted by jsherdc on 7/12/2014 & rated 92 points: Delicious as always. even better on day 2. Explosive Cherry but nicely structured. (2318 views) | | | Tasted by WineGeneral on 7/6/2013 & rated 90 points: Black cherries, violets, pepper, and herbs dominate the nose and palate. A medium plus bodied wine with a medium length finish, this is drinking very well now. (1158 views) | | | Tasted by jblack on 5/19/2013 & rated 89 points: Fruity ground with citrus end (1035 views) | | | Tasted by Blauweiss on 5/6/2013 & rated 92 points: Great nose, muscular yet complex. Taste is big, balanced and long. Outstanding stuff! (2713 views) | | | Tasted by ondevall on 3/30/2013 & rated 91 points: Mature. Very pleasant wine with long, complex finish. Drink now! (2243 views) | | | Tasted by Pipcelot on 10/25/2012 & rated 87 points: Black and some red fruit on the nose. Blueberries predominate the palate with a touch of earthiness. Reminds me of a carmenere but more tannic. A little hard to enjoy with all those tannins. Good acid. A well made wine. Pleasant but not my preferred flavor profile. (2554 views) | | | Tasted by octopussy on 7/30/2012 & rated 88 points: Shiny ruby red with black core and purple rim. In the nose, it has ripe cherries, blackberries, some leather oriental spices. On the palate, it has soft tannins, a good structure, a well balanced acidity and finishes medium-long without a lot of depth. (1994 views) | | | Tasted by suarezd on 7/1/2012: Surprisingly good for having paid $9. (1530 views) | | | Tasted by wineshlub on 7/17/2011 & rated 88 points: Opened two hours before drinking. Faint aromas of mint and leather. Palate of red fruit, and spice. Vanilla and some heat dominate the finish. Decent, enjoyable, and well made, similar in characteristics and quality to a good Southern Rhone. I like it quite a bit but, with a price in the low $20's, I would have liked it better if it were $5 cheaper. (1835 views) | | | Tasted by jsherdc on 5/7/2011 & rated 92 points: This is terrific. Balanced. Earthy. Mushrooms and tea. Just enough fruit. A GREAT food wine. Classic Mouvedre/Syrah blend. 91/92
Every Better Day 2. 92/93. Reminds me of the Linne Calodo wines, except its much less expensive. (1959 views) | | | Tasted by Winekrupt on 4/30/2011: Did not decant enough but... the nose was somewhat leathery, with some garrigue spice thrown in, not terribly fruity in the aroma profile, much more on the bottle evolution, probably needed more air to show better. In the mouth it had great upfront florals and spice giving it a delicious complex start, but the mid palate was disappointing, a little thin on fruit and not round enough, front, middle and end palate were incongruous. A good producer, and the wine was good, but not up to the standard of past vintages. Perhaps this wasn't the best bottle- or perhaps I should have been more patient and decanted. 89 pts. (1959 views) | | | Tasted by Wop on 1/25/2011 & rated 92 points: I think this is in a great place. There is still some nice bright red berry fruit balanced with just the right amount of tart cherry. Long finish. (2163 views) | | | Tasted by rharlow on 4/17/2010 & rated 90 points: A bit more tart cherry than I remember from last year. We drank it only after 1 hour of opening. It might have improved with more time. Still great! (2399 views) | | | Tasted by Bluedevil99 on 12/17/2009 & rated 91 points: Had this a few days ago. No detailed notes other than this was very good. Needed a few hours to open up and much better the second day. Reminded me of a young right bank Bordeaux but very accessible; with air the tannins are quite smooth and tealike with good structure. At <$20 the QPR is absolutely off the charts. Initially had this at 89; revised upward after tasting the 2nd and 3rd day. (2692 views) | | | Tasted by rharlow on 12/10/2009 & rated 93 points: Wonderfully complex, it needs about an hour to open up. (2677 views) | | | Tasted by mukden on 10/18/2009 & rated 91 points: YES. I have been a fan of Hortus since I drank my first bottle in a riverside restaurant 5-years ago in Albi with the evening sun reflecting off the orange brickwork of the ancient town. It is very muscular and purple and alcoholic and stong but a really good wine Not sure what it does in time but a great restaurant wine with steaks. (2810 views) | | | Tasted by ggtirevite on 6/22/2008 & rated 90 points: This vintage is as good as the previous ones I tasted (3279 views) | | | Tasted by jim dixon on 2/9/2008: OK, so maybe I do believe in bottle shock. Had a bottle of this as soon as the fedex man left the driveway and it had almost no nose and was very disjointed on the palate. Over the next two days it seemed to change countless times: sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse. In the end I didn't know what to make of it. Just opened another bottle that has been resting for several weeks and it smells just like I remember the wine smelling in France: lots of chocolate-milk and oak. On the palate it is tight and not particularly pleasurable. This is how I remember it being back on its home turf, however, so if it develops as it did then it should really shine after a couple of days. I'll report back.
2nd + 3rd days: each day this wine has improved, as it did in France. On the third day it was much more integrated than on opening, and really quite enjoyable. Hoping it will pick up more complexity with time, however. (3386 views) | | | Tasted by jim dixon on 6/14/2007 & rated 91 points: Initially tasted like it had too much oak, but got better each day. Best on day 4! (3492 views) | | | Only displaying the 25 most recent notes - click to see all notes for this wine... |
| Domaine de l'Hortus Producer website
Jean Orliac and his wife met at university at Montpellier, she a historian and he an agronomist. The property is in a hidden valley between the Pic Saint Loup itself and the Monts d'Hortus, two improbable limestone peaks (each topped with an eleventh century castle) which surge out of the plain north of Montpellier, announcing the beginning of the Cevennes. The vines are planted in cleared areas amongst olive groves on the lower scree slopes. Their daughter Marie-Thérèse now helps with the vinifications, especially of the new Clos du Prieur wine, and their son François is taking charge of the vineyards.
Red Rhone Blend Read about the different grapes used to produce red and white Rhone wines
On CellarTracker, Red Rhone Blend is the term for a wine consisting of two or more of the traditional 13 Southern Rhone grape varieties. Typically it's the Grenache, Syrah, Mourvedre or Cinsault grapes, but can also contain the Muscardin, Counoise, Clairette, Bourboulenc, Picpoul, Roussanne, Terret Noir, Picardan or Vaccarese grapes.
A 'food' wine. Lacking pretension and intended for local consumption with local cuisine. Lacks the 'high' notes on a Bordeaux, more earthy and sharper so often a better partner to meat dishes with a sauce. France Vins de France (Office National Interprofessionnel des Vins ) | Pages Vins, Directory of French Winegrowers | French Wine (Wikipedia)
Wine Scholar Guild vintage ratings
2018 vintage: "marked by a wet spring, a superb summer and a good harvest"
2019 vintage reports
2021: "From a general standpoint, whether for white, rosé or red wines, 2021 is a year marked by quality in the Rhône Valley Vineyards. Structured, elegant, fresh and fruity will be the main keywords for this new vintage."
2022 harvest: idealwine.info | wine-searcher.comLanguedoc Roussillon Inter Sud de France | Vins Languedoc-Roussillon
Wine-Searcher.com: http://www.wine-searcher.com/regions-languedoc-roussillon
Financial Times Article (June 19th 2010 Andrew Jefford):http://bit.ly/bLDytg
Financial Times Article (June 5 2010 Jancis Robinson): http://bit.ly/8ZerX2
David Schildknecht (7th June 2010) Languedoc-Roussillon Best Producers:http://bit.ly/do0LQa Languedoc Conseil Interprofessionnel des Vins du Languedoc (Official site) |
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