From Carignan vines in alluvial soil planted in 1892, and aged for a year in barrique, the Ligneres 2005 Piece de Roche is another aggressively aromatic, grippingly tannic, dried fruit-dominated, and wood resin-inflected offering. Dried blueberries, cassis, and bitter huckleberries mingle with a black powder-like amalgam of char and faintly sulfurous pungency. As with the Notre Dame bottling of this vintage, there is a brash brightness in the finish, along with a salty tang that help this wine over its slightly drying and inherently lip-numbing tannins. Of concentration and energy there is no lack here. Another 2-3 years would be needed just to assess its long-term prospects, if any. And some of the relative roughness these wines are displaying is consistent with the slightly ornery current state of so many 2005s.In the almost perpetually breezy foothills of the Alaric Mountains, the Ligneres family farms more than 200 acres of geologically diverse slopes and terraces. Their wines were formerly quite distinctively labeled under their name, and now bear a uniform label inscribed -La Baronne- (for their Chateau), although for the most part the cuvee names remain unchanged. This is a family-operated estate, although interestingly, the five principles represent two general practitioners, a dentist, a pharmacist, and a biologist, and employ a Tuscan oenological consultant, Stefano Chioccioli. While within the Corbieres region, they bottle all of their wines as vins de pays. I confine my notes to those wines currently on offer in the U.S.Importer: Jackson Family Wines, Santa Rosa, CA; tel. (707) 544 4000