View larger 
More easy-drinking than Clos des Cistes, Syrah Léone reveals an intense, complex nose of stewed plum, black olive, spices and tapenade.
The dense, deep mouth opens out onto flavours of dark fruit and menthol, based on a perfectly balanced structure between power and delicateness.
Persistent and palatable.
A great wine!
Notes :- Bettane + Desseauve 18/20 + coup de coeur
- La Revue du Vin de France 18/ 20
Wine characteristics
- Vintage : Syrah Léone
- Year : 2007
- Appellation : Coteaux du Languedoc
- Colour : Red
- Grape types : 95 % Syrah, 5 % Grenache
- Soil : pebbly, poor
- Harvest : manual
- Type of viticulture : organic
- Contenance : 75cl
Tasting - Cellaring
- Appearance : dark
- Nose : dark fruit, tapenade, tobacco
- Mouth : powerful, dense and persistent
- Serving temperature : 16°C
- Cellaring : 10 years
- Drink from : 2017
- Winemaking process : partial destemming, long vatting
- Maturation : 10 years in vats (75%) and casks (25%)
Food-matching
- Food-matching : saddle of rabbit with boletus mushrooms
Experts reviews :
Bettane + Desseauve
Rated wine : 18/20La Revue du Vin de France
Rated wine : 18/ 20
Domain :
Located in the middle of nowhere, this 26-hectare estate, standing on very poor pebbly soils, only produces 35,000 bottles a year of exceptional wines that have an inexplicable and bewitching magic about them.
Praised by both the specialist press and private individuals, every winelover should try one at least once in his/her lifetime.
Appellation :
See the latest sales in this region
This is the wine-growing area that has made the greatest progress in terms of quality over the past 30 to 40 years, morphing from coarse reds into a multitude of quality wines with very distinctive characteristics. For some time now, the whites have also kept pace with the reds.
There are 245,000 hectares of vineyards, producing 1,245,000 hl of wine, mainly reds.
The region is situated between the Massif Central, the Corbières and the Mediterranean, covering a wide range of ‘terroirs’ and appellations. There’s shale, sandstone, pebbles, limestone and alluvial deposits.
The climate is very much mediterranean, with hot summers and irregular and poorly distributed rainfall.
The grape types currently planted, apart from carignan, often date from after the Second World War, in line with the subsoil. This makes for complex, exciting wines.
Reflecting this dynamism, many of the vignerons produce wines that are non-AOC (vins de pays, table wines, etc.) as they keep on searching for quality and originality.
The Languedoc has 11 AOCs, the main ones of which are Coteaux du Languedoc, Saint-Chinian, Faugères, Minervois, Minervois-la-Livinière, Fitou, Corbières, Limoux and so on.
Recent vintages
- 2011: good year for whites, which are well-balanced and fresh. The reds are more even.
- 2012: the reds are mature and fresh, with lower alcohol content. The whites are fresh and fragrant.
- 2013: the finest vintage since 1998. The reds display freshness, quality tannins and fragrant finesse. The whites blend good balance with maturity and acidity.
- 2014: fresh, tender reds to be drunk young. Tonic, aromatic and fresh whites.