Moulin-à-Vent Clos de Rochegrès - Château des Jacques 2011 (Double-Magnum)

Wineadvocate

Clove and cinnamon accents to the ripe cherry and purple plum of Chateau des Jacques’s 2011 Moulin-a-Vent Clos de Rochegres suggest that a dollop of Gewurztraminer was administered. Singed meat and crushed stone set-off the luscious fruit and deep spice on a polished palate that projects an almost pasty sense of sheer concentration, but at the same time not a hint of heaviness, let alone heat, in its succulently sustained finish. This is far from the brightness, charm and wafting florality of the corresponding Grand Carquelin, whose personality might well have much to do with that site’s high quartzite content, but it surprises me that the highest-elevation site in the des Jacques collection – generally harvested a week after the others – has rendered such a richly, exotically ripe style. Plan to enjoy this through 2017.