2000 Chateau Puech-Haut Saint Drezery Cuvee Prestige

Chateau Puech-Haut is a 430-acre estate in Saint-Drezery, a small village 10 miles north of Montpellier in southwest France. The Languedoc appellation estate is owned by Gerard Bru, who has in the past hired two of France’s most famous wine consultants, Claude Gros and Michel Rolland, to help him make his wines. A former industrialist, Bru bought the land in the early 1980s and slowly turned it into one of Languedoc’s most prestigious wine estates. The chateau makes numerous red, white and rose wines, but it is especially known for its Syrah and Grenache Cuvee Prestige.

Languedoc-Roussillon is very large wine-producing region in south and southwestern France extending along the Mediterranean coast from northern Spain to the Rhone Valley. It includes more than 800,000 vineyard acres and numerous appellations, nearly all created since the mid-20th century. Languedoc-Roussillon produces one-third of all the wine made in France and it long had a reputation for quantity over quality. In the last few decades, however, outside investors and some long-time local producers have greatly improved vineyard practices and winemaking. The result is that Languedoc-Roussillon is now home to many entrepreneurially-minded producers highly focused on quality, and it enjoys a buzz among wine buyers looking for well-crafted, robust wines offered at excellent values. The most successfully grown red grapes are the traditional Rhone varietals of Grenache, Mourvedre and Syrah, though Carignan and Cinsault are also planted. The intense sun and dry weather makes it tougher to grow white grapes, though Chardonnay and some other white grapes are often successful. Chardonnay is used for the popular sparkling wine Crémant de Limoux, a Languedoc-Roussillon appellation created in 1990.