Unless our 2013 vintage Syrah tonight was an aberration, it appears Philippe Gallart was a better rugby player than he is vigneron.

That was one of the selling points — well, in a peripheral way — as we got down to the business of tasting local wines, here in the Languedoc.

“Philippe Gallart played internationally for France,” said the pleasant woman at Le Wine Shop — a British-run place in nearby Pezenas, which appeared to specialize in local wines.

It turned out to be one of those quickly evolving wines that ended up in a sad place.

After the first sip, one of us said, “Oh, that’s really nice! That could be our house wine while we are here.”

The other of us was busy making ham sandwiches on baguettes before he got around to joining the wine sipping, maybe 10 minutes later.

And was immediately disappointed.

The rugby player’s Syrah faded like an ill-conditioned prop forward in the final 10 minutes of a match.

What for a few minutes seemed like a full-blooded red — “wines made from Syrah are often powerfully flavored and full-bodied” — went to pieces in a matter of minutes.

By the time drinker No. 2 got to it, it was weak and watery — which taster No. 1 quickly conceded. “Wow. Been a long time since I had a wine that went away so quickly.”

Finishing the bottle may be a chore.

During our stay in the Languedoc, the plan is to drink only local wines. Languedoc finally is being recognized for producing some fine wines, but an ancient prejudice against them (in France, anyway) still limits their circulation — but also keeps the prices down.

Our 2013 Syrah mistake cost us only 7.5 euros.

Gallart grew up in Beziers, the biggest city within a 30-minute radius of where we are, played 19 times for France and won three club championships with his hometown team. He must be a big guy, because he played the “prop” position, which calls for the largest and strongest players on a team.

He apparently owns some land near Roujan, which is about five miles from where we are staying.

His domaine is named Abournieres.

Gallart apparently has done better work: He has been at the wine business for a while (he quit rugby in 2000), and the woman at Le Wine Shop went to his wine immediately. It was our first buy.

We have hopes that one of the other two we bought will restore our faith on up-and-coming Languedoc-area wines.