Puech Haut - Prestige Rouge

Classification: AOP

Year: 2013

Alcohol: 14.5%

Grapes: 40% Syrah, 60% Grenache

Now I shall discuss another wine I had at Chateau Puech Haut. I was fortunate enough to also find a few stores that carried this wine and managed to pick up a few bottles to help remember my fine times in Languedoc. I thoroughly enjoyed the wines I had there, and was looking forward to seeing if this one lived up to the nostalgia.

Upon opening one my bottles and letting it breathe a bit, I could get rich and deep scents of fruits and berries. There was also a nice oaky scents to it; similar to sniffing the end of the cork once its open (its okay and perfectly normal to do that BTW). The nitial tastes ot this one definitely lean towards the darker fruit flavorus; specifically blackberry, blueberry, and plum. There are hints of sweeter red fruits too like cherry and raspberries, but the darker fruits tend to dominate this one. This one also has some other lovely flavours such as chocolate and vanilla, and a light hint of tobacco and liquorice that can be made as well. The body of this wine is quite full, but also feels a bit heavier as well. There are lots of flavours to experience and pick out, but they take a bit longer to develop and distinguish in your mouth. This one is bit more on the smokier and earthier end versus sweet end. It's not as smooth or sweet,, but this one packs a lot of depth. The aftertaste to this one is a bit smoky and has a hint of pepper at the end. Outside of being a bit on the smoky side, it doesn’t linger in a bad way. The tannins are a bit high on this one too, and you can still feel the deep flavours in your mouth for a while after that last sip.

Another decent wine from Puech Haut. Although it's not as good as I remember since I last had it in Languedoc, this one still packs quite a nice range of flavours. This is another wine that is better to sip and let the flavours develop in your mouth rather than pound back an entire bottle on a hot summer day or after a nasty break up. This one is perhaps less on the sweet side, so people who like a sweeter red may want to look elsewhere. Those that really like wines with deep flavours should give this one a try.

Pairings: Grilled duck/red meat, beef ribs, lamb, and cheeses are the official recommended pairings. This one would also go good with some BBQ like burgers.

It just struck me that this one tastes quite similar to the Domaine de la Baume in my last review, and the official food pairings are quite similar. This is most likely because they use the same grapes. Go figure eh?

Overall Rating: 3.5 Languedoc Crosses out of 5

Where To Get: https://www.liquorconnect.com/Products/Stores/768711

Although not listed, I've seen this one quite a bit at many Ace Liquor outlets. It may be worth calling them and seeing if they carry it.