Not perfect? Not a problem !

What's a perfect wine? I don't know as I have not had one yet. But I wonder: is a perfect wine will give me the most pleasure ever? Or will it be so perfect that, because of that perfection, I'll have the impression of something missing, that little imperfection which would make the wine...well perfect.


One thing for sure is that this 2003 Domaine Léon Barral Jadis was not perfect, far from it. But it managed to thrill me in many different ways.



2003, as everybody know, was terribly hot all over Europe and the Languedoc region suffered from it like any other regions. Making balanced and fresh wines was certainly not easy. Sure, you can always acidify, modify, manipulate your wine but at the end is it really your wine? Enter, Didier Barral, winemaker with his brother for the Domaine Leon Barral (Leon was their grandfather). No manipulation is allowed here, what you have is the direct result of the vintage. To see how they treat their vineyards is really spectacular. Pigs and bees have been introduced. They consider the surrounding forest, just like Selosse, as very important and crucial for the balance. As little as possible sulfur is used. If you want a "natural" wine (even though I dislike that term), there you go.




For all this reasons, and more, it seems that there are a lot of bottle variations. Some with a lot of VA, some where it refermented, some dead before being opened...I actually don't care, I accept and am ready to take this risk because I know Barral's wines are special and always tell me something.

This 2003, Cuvée Jadis, had many reports of bad bottles. Just after pulling out the cork, I decanted the wine. Surprisingly, it made a thick foam and it started smelling like in a fermentation vat. The very 1st sip had a "cider" aspect. Well after an hour it settled down. Was there some VA? Yes, for sure. The acidity was surprisingly high but seemed not totally integrated with the wine. But despite all this, the nose was complex and enticing: cocoa powder, very floral, strawberry and leather. Yeah sure, throw some VA in the mix. On the palate, it's big but not overwhelming. Save for that weird acidity, it is also complex with again plenty of leathery and floral notes along chocolate and ripe strawberry. Far from a perfect wine but it managed to give me so many different emotions and showed different faces.



This is 2003, this is the vintage. The vines have suffered, the winemaker as well. The wine is showing it. But this is what I want. I want to understand the vintage when I taste the wine. More and more, wine (especially Bordeaux) is becoming like a NV Champagne: the same year after year when everybody try to erase the particularities of the vintage.

I remember Jean-Marc Roulot, saying he wants his wines to be different every vintages. Well, Mr Roulot, Bravo !