RJonWine.com

• By Richard Jennings
  2/25/2009 (link) 87 points

  (Domaine Antugnac Pinot Noir) Dark cranberry red color with clarity and pale meniscus; bright strawberry, cherry, berry and sous bois nose; tasty red fruit, Pinot, with juiciness and lime acidity, fairly simple though; short-medium finish 87+ pts.

Garagiste

• By Jon Rimmerman
  9/4/2008 (link)

  (ANTUGNAC Pinot Noir) Pinot Noir - IMPORTANT Dear Friends, Ok, this one gets the IMPORTANT tag - timing is everything in this trade. This offer was waiting to go out last week but I tabled it because Pat was out of the office attending to his new family addition. What I thought (at the time) was going to be one of the biggest offers of the year now may end up as one of the most popular offers we've ever put out. Pinot Noir is the most difficult varietal of substance to find under $10 and I don't mean middling plonk. Expressive wine that exudes terroir and varietal tone just doesn't happen at the $8-10 level with this grape. Which brings us to today... I've been telling all of you since last fall how good 2007 was shaping up for red wine in the south of France (and the Rhone Valley - maybe the finest vintage since 1990) and this wine has been bubbling in it's tank waiting to show the world what can be done for $10 (as a side note, you are not going to believe how good the 2007 reds of Provence and the Languedoc are - some of the finest wines since the 1980s - ditto for Chateaneuf du Pape if the progress in tank over the next year plays out - 1978 anyone?) Back to the Pinot Noir... Due to the Wine Advocate review last night, I need to get this out today or lose our allocation - it's pretty simple. Talk about instant fame? Since this morning, Domaine du Antugnac has gone from a relatively obscure producer of Burgundian varietals in the emerging Aude to a wine everyone from UK merchants to those in Hong Kong are clamoring to obtain. Why? Price. At the $10 level, from China to Australia, this is a wine that will sell through no matter where it lands - glass pour Pinot Noir of this quality (at this price) is almost an impossibility - you couple that with the review below and all bets are off (hopefully, secondary market pressures don't turn this into a $20 wine). I scrapped the rest of the offer I wrote last week because David Schildknecht says it all in his review - I could have penned it myself. Kudos once again to David for upholding the Garagiste mantra and for recognizing that unknown does not mean "lesser". HIGHLY RECOMMENDED for bizarre value and honest expression of a fickle varietal. This parcel is directly from the cellars at Antugnac in the beautiful Aude: 2007 Domaine du Antugnac Pinot Noir Vallee de l'Aude Thank you, Jon Rimmerman Garagiste Seattle, WA SOFR8710