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Auction: SFW03 - An Evening of Exceptional Wines
Lot: 68

Domaine du Clos des Fées, La Petite Sibérie vintage 2005
Côtes du Roussillon

90/100 points David Schildknech, The Wine Advocate #183 June 2009

Lying duty & tax free in a temperature-controlled cellar in Geneva, Switzerland.
6 bottles in original case
From an allocation of the estate.

Tasting Note: "Bizeul's 2005 Côtes du Roussillon Villages La Petite Siberie may have been showing an extreme side of its vintage when I tasted it, or perhaps the effects of its virtual tectonic plates of tannin beginning to assert their presence. Hugely intense candied and liqueur-like black cherry, black raspberry and cassis are laced with coconut, vanilla, licorice, and resin, not only from the new wood, but no doubt, too, from the grapes' sheer, exotic ripeness. But there is an almost brutal undertow of tannin here and in the bitter-sweet, oily, medicinal intensity of the wine's finish, I have the feeling of being caught in a vortex and sucked into darkness. That said, I would love to have been able to sit with this wine longer, or revisit it overnight, but a relentless schedule precluded that approach.

Herve Bizeul practices a ruthlessly controlled viticultural regimen focused on some 130 parcels of selection massale vines in the dramatically rocky, yet clay-permeated limestone environment north of Vingrau, and his pursuit of concentration and purity continues with meticulous selectivity of plots and lots (much of the crop is sold off each year) as well as of clusters and berries. Add to this a fruit-pampering vinification, and the result is wines that have turned heads every bit as much as does the local scenery and brought Bizeul well-deserved recognition as a beacon of Roussillon quality. He is so convinced of the fit between traditional goblet training and the local climate, that he is even head-pruning his young vines of Cabernet Franc, whose profusely floral, chocolaty-rich, yet refined inaugural 2008 vintage will, rest assured, be unlike any other wine from this grape that you have ever tasted. Bizeul is another of those denizens of Roussillon and the Languedoc to have imagined and now perfected a uniquely delicious style of white wine."

Estimate
SG$2,100 to SG$2,500