**Best Price Online**

(winesearcher pro version)
(shipping included)

Wine Advocate 89-90+ Points
Assembled and sulfured the morning before I arrived, Zernott and Rousseau’s 2010 Coteaux du Languedoc Les Petits Pas was scarcely in the best of shape to receive visitors, yet acquitted itself remarkably well, if surely without the length it will display when rested. This Grenache-Syrah-Carignan offers a melange of blackberry and strawberry with marrowy meatiness and a savor of pan drippings. Subtle, bittersweet floral suggestions waft from the glass as the wine takes on air, while notes of iodine and salt extend a mouthwatering finish. This puts me in mind of a hypothetical blend between Languedoc and Moulin-a-Vent.

Since 2002, Julien Zernott and Delphine Rousseau have farmed spectacularly steep, chalky stone terraces high above the river Orb outside Pegairolles de l’Escalette (population ca. 150), on the western rim of the Terrasses du Larzac. And “spectacular” is hardly an exaggeration to describe the wines I tasted in this young couple’s superbly-equipped new winery. Spread across the Orb’s wide gorge and comprising the estate are both east- and west-facing parcels, which benefit (truly!) from a corresponding limitation on either afternoon or morning sunlight, accentuating the effects of lower temperatures and higher rainfall found here than elsewhere in the Languedoc. Rigorous triage of fruit from vines averaging 45 years in age (their 60 year old Carignan are not the ones Zernott and Rousseau refer to as “vieilles vignes”!) and spontaneous fermentation in large wooden (tapered-sided) “tronconique” are the norm, with stainless steel relegated to assemblage and the production of a little rose. Zernott and Rousseau both arrived here from their native Loire, and he reports having had responsibility in the cellar of Henry Pelle for 16 years, though in that case it seems as though he must have begun working there as a child! Had my schedule permitted me the time, they would have been happy to show me their 2007 reds and 2006 white as well, but I am promised – and promise to report on – that experience when I return in 2013.
-David Schildknecht, Aug 2011

Winemaker Notes
From the Terrasses du Larzac, just west of Pic Saint Loup. It is 40% Grenache, 30% Carignane, 20% Syrah and 10% Cinsault. This has a very red-fruity, spicy and slightly floral nose, followed by a burst of fresh red berries and spices in the mouth. Black pepper, ginger, lavender and dried thyme marry with the bright fruit. Medium body. Very satisfying Southern French red.

Coteaux du Languedoc
A very large and varied appellation of the Languedoc region of southern France. As with other generic regional titles (e.g. Cotes du Rhone and Cotes du Roussillon), Coteaux du Languedoc serves as a starting point; smaller areas within it may break off into independent appellations when recognized for a particular wine style of quality. The appellation covers most of the Languedoc region and is home to nearly a third of all the wine-bearing vines in France.