Salut/Hi David Rheault,

le/on Mon, 8 Dec 2003 11:20:50 -0500, tu disais/you said:-

>Does anyone here like these wines from Southwestern France?

Yes. But the best need long ageing. The grape variety used (Tannat) is well
named!

>about them? Flaws? Attributes?

When badly made they can be astringent to the point of acrid. Not all are
made for very long ageing, and some of these are perfectly decent when drunk
young - at about 3-4 years old. There are some co-op examples that I get at
our local wine shop that I use both for cooking and fir drinking with the
meal. Dishes like salmis and civet both need quite young tannic wines when
you cook with them, and Madiran does excellently well.

> I just know that the main component is the tannat grape (not sure where we see that grape elsewhere except for a few
>places in South America) and that they can be too tannic if drunk on the
>young side.

Exactly.

>I've heard of Chateau Montus but I don't know if this estate is easily obtainable in the US.

I don't think any Madiran is particularly easy to find outside SW france,
and the best , of which Montus Prestige and Bouscassé Vieilles Vignes spring
to mind) are in such short supply that they are sold on allocation with
Brumont's other wines. Apart from him and his wines, which - like say Mas
Daumas (sp?) in Languedoc - benefit from superb media exposure, there are
quite a number of other class producers.

Jean-Marc Laffitte - Ch Laffitte-Teston and Patrick Ducournau at Dom Mouréou
- he it was that invented micro- oxygenation. He believes that Tannat based
wines are so tannic that to get them drinkable earlier they need air, but he
rejects the idea of repeated decanting from barrel to barrel as being to
"rough" on the wines. What he thinks of the widespread adoption of his
methods for wines from less aggressive vines than Tannat is unrecorded.


--
All the Best
Ian Hoare

Sometimes oi just sits and thinks
Sometimes oi just sits.

David Rheault > wrote:
: Hi,

: Does anyone here like these wines from Southwestern France? Any comments
: about them? Flaws? Attributes? I just know that the main component is the
: tannat grape (not sure where we see that grape elsewhere except for a few
: places in South America) and that they can be too tannic if drunk on the
: young side. I've heard of Chateau Montus but I don't know if this estate is
: easily obtainable in the US.

David -- these wines are NASTY BEASTS. Please STAY AWAY from them!

(heh heh, now that we got rid of 99% of the readers here...)

These wines do have a tough mean streak to them: rough, chewy tannins and
near-black in color, but they can have their charms too. Of course I
haven't had one that qualified yet, but am sitting on a 1995 Montus
(reputebly the best of the bunch) for scientific experimentation and
hopeful enlightenment. There ought to be vintages of Montus floating
around, but uneven in its distribution. I know there seems to be an awful
pot of it in Boston and Brown Derby.com sells it as well.

Let us know what you think of this if you try one.

Mark S


--

> wrote in message ...
> David Rheault > wrote:
> : Hi,
>
> : Does anyone here like these wines from Southwestern France? Any comments
> : about them? Flaws? Attributes? I just know that the main component is
the
> : tannat grape (not sure where we see that grape elsewhere except for a
few
> : places in South America) and that they can be too tannic if drunk on the
> : young side. I've heard of Chateau Montus but I don't know if this estate
is
> : easily obtainable in the US.
>
> David -- these wines are NASTY BEASTS. Please STAY AWAY from them!

Well, I have heard that they are astringent/tannic. ;> Tannat strikes me as
an unusual grape variety as well. Actually, I've also heard that the
traditional ones are more like that, needing quite a bit of bottle age.
Newer producers are apparently trying to put more fruitiness in the flavor.


> (heh heh, now that we got rid of 99% of the readers here...)
>
> These wines do have a tough mean streak to them: rough, chewy tannins and
> near-black in color, but they can have their charms too. Of course I
> haven't had one that qualified yet, but am sitting on a 1995 Montus
> (reputebly the best of the bunch) for scientific experimentation and
> hopeful enlightenment. There ought to be vintages of Montus floating
> around, but uneven in its distribution. I know there seems to be an awful
> pot of it in Boston and Brown Derby.com sells it as well.
>
> Let us know what you think of this if you try one.

I've located a Domaine Berthomieu (not sure what year, possibly 1997) so I
may try it and get back to this group when I do. I have heard that Montus is
the best and if I can't locate a bottle (live in a retrograde state where
Internet wine sales are forbidden) then I'd love to hear your thoughts.

dcr

In article >, Ian Hoare
> writes:

>I don't think any Madiran is particularly easy to find outside SW france,
>and the best , of which Montus Prestige and Bouscassé Vieilles Vignes spring
>to mind) are in such short supply that they are sold on allocation with
>Brumont's other wines. Apart from him and his wines, which - like say Mas
>Daumas (sp?) in Languedoc - benefit from superb media exposure, there are
>quite a number of other class producers.
>
>Jean-Marc Laffitte - Ch Laffitte-Teston and Patrick Ducournau at Dom Mouréou

The regular Montus is the only Madiran that enjoys anything approaching wide
distribution in US. But Laffitte-Teston is quite good, cheaper, and reasonably
available (try Chambers Street Wines in NYC, for instance). Another Madiran
I've liked is Laffont.


Dale

Dale Williams
Drop "damnspam" to reply

"Ian Hoare" > wrote in message
...

> Salut/Hi David Rheault,
>
> le/on Mon, 8 Dec 2003 11:20:50 -0500, tu disais/you said:-
>
> >Does anyone here like these wines from Southwestern France?
>
> Yes. But the best need long ageing. The grape variety used (Tannat) is
well
> named!


Thanks for the tips & info Ian! I will probably try to locate a Montus soon
and will be back with my impressions!


dcr

Danny Kravitz in Culpepper VA did/does import a well received Madiran
called Domain Bibian.

Horton Vinyards in VA grows a moderate amount of Tannit, which he
blends into his Cab Franc.


On 11 Dec 2003 15:05:11 GMT, amnspam (Dale Williams)
wrote:

>In article >, Ian Hoare
> writes:
>
>>I don't think any Madiran is particularly easy to find outside SW france,
>>and the best , of which Montus Prestige and Bouscassé Vieilles Vignes spring
>>to mind) are in such short supply that they are sold on allocation with
>>Brumont's other wines. Apart from him and his wines, which - like say Mas
>>Daumas (sp?) in Languedoc - benefit from superb media exposure, there are
>>quite a number of other class producers.
>>
>>Jean-Marc Laffitte - Ch Laffitte-Teston and Patrick Ducournau at Dom Mouréou
>
>The regular Montus is the only Madiran that enjoys anything approaching wide
>distribution in US. But Laffitte-Teston is quite good, cheaper, and reasonably
>available (try Chambers Street Wines in NYC, for instance). Another Madiran
>I've liked is Laffont.
>
>
>Dale
>
>Dale Williams
>Drop "damnspam" to reply

"gerald" > wrote in message
...

Thanks Gerald.

> Danny Kravitz in Culpepper VA did/does import a well received Madiran
> called Domain Bibian.
>
> Horton Vinyards in VA grows a moderate amount of Tannit, which he
> blends into his Cab Franc.

I've heard of Horton and this is on my list to try. I did settle on a bottle
of Chateau Montus 1996 (Cuvée Prestige). More on that after I've tasted it.


dcr