The Mercurey village and premier
cru hillside vineyards

I got the first shipment of one of my favorite lower priced premier cru Burgundies in December. It sold out right away, but good news — a second supply has arrived.

I love a good Burgundy Mercurey. Particularly a 2009 Mercurey from Domaine Ninot. It’s an honest, earthy, pungent, full-flavored, red berry fruited Pinot Noir wine which, when consumed with a lamb stew and crunchy mopping bread in front of a crackling fire, can plunge one into a very comfortable state of mind.

Last year’s 2008 Les Crets was rated 88-91 by Burghound. The 2009 has not been reviewed yet but which has built up huge anticipation because its high quality and perfectly riped fruit. I will give give you last year’s review (below) to give you a sense of this delightful wine’s style.

“This is more refined aromatically with very Pinot aromas that still carry the hallmark earthiness of a classic Mercurey and this earthiness also suffuses the rich, round and generous medium-bodied flavors that are supported by rather fine tannins and notably better length on the sappy finish. Lovely and understated. 2012+. 88-91pts” – Allen Meadows, Burghound

And if that’s the 2008 – imagine how good the 2009 will be! 2009 red Burgundies – peerless perfection!

Wine Spectator reports on the 2009 vintage: “it looks like Burgundy lovers will be blessed with charming and fruity reds and whites.”

Decanter writes, “Winemakers throughout the region are delighted by 2009′s high levels of ripeness, the health of the grapes, and the promising acidity and balance.”

And this Mercurey is an incredible value. Errell Ninot is one of those perfectionist, over-achieving growers that I spend my days searching for.

Errel got her picture in La Revue du Vin de France, which is a big deal. Every now and again, the magazine (which is France’s equivalent to The Wine Advocate) puts a grower on a pedestal and honors her with their Coup de Coeur. This basically means when they tasted her wines, they fell in love.

Mercurey is a village and winegrowing area that is part of a larger region called the Chalonnaise. The Chalonnaise is just south of the Cote d’Or. There is not just one hill as there is in the Cote d’Or, but a jumble of hills. If you happen upon a good grower here, you can get a good sense of what French Pinot Noir is all about and why the world cannot get enough of it, especially in 2009.

Ninot’s Mercurey is grown in the vineyard named Les Crets, which is one of the best premier cru vineyards. In its prime location on the mid-slope of the Mercurey hillside, the vineyard gets excellent southern exposure. The terroir produces an intense and concentrated wine. This is the first arrival of 2009s. Grab them while they are available -Cynthia Hurley

 The label on the bottle,
glistening with a few
drops of this special wine.

My love of good white wine has grown tremendously over the past year. Maybe it is the wonderful vintages, maybe it is the refreshing, cool citrus and mineral flavors. Of course, it’s not just any white wine that rings my chimes – it takes a white Burgundy. Like many of you, I like to savor the time at the end of the day when the work is done with a glass in my hard.

I particularly like a white Burgundy with a price tag that means I can enjoy it with out checking to see if the Dow is up that day. Yes, that’s a bit trickier to nail down in the pricey paradise of white Burgundies.

But, if you travel south to the Macon region – then you can find what I’m looking for. Ah-h and you’ll have a good time doing it – the land there is lush and lovely beyond description.

The Collovray and Terrier families created the Domaine des Deux Roches in 1986 in the Maconnais wine region, south of the Cote d’Or. Out of this marriage comes some of the most compelling St Verans in the region.

Deux Roches refers to the two gigantic rock cliffs that punctuate the landscape here: Vergisson and Solutre. The estate is in Davaye which is considered the best source of St Veran. The quite limited St Veran vineyards are to the north and the south of the Pouilly Fuisse vineyards but the northern vineyards make the best wines and this is where Davaye is found.

Here’s what Jean-Luc Terrier says about his winemaking:

“We reverted with passion to the traditional methods of our grandfathers as if they were something new and extraordinary. Here we are, making our own compost again instead of using chemical fertilizers. And far from boosting yields, we prune severely and then go out into the vineyards again in summer to thin the fruit for perfect ripeness and better quality.”

Here is what La Revue said about Terrier’s wines:

“…the estate has become a locomotive for the appellation of St Veran and one of the most important properties. The estate uses impeccable technology creating wines of a reasonable price. These wines are an interesting alternative to the whites from the Cotes de Beaune.” – “The Best Wines from France 2010,” La Revue du Vin de France

Hey! That’s exactly what I said.

And 2009 is a lovely vintage. Allen Meadows of Burghound describes the 2009 vintage as, “rich and full but not heavy.” He counsels, “I would be buying the ’09s more for their fruit-forward characters and ability to be enjoyed young.” He also writes, “the whites from Chablis, the Mâconnais and the Côte Chalonnaise remain screaming bargains relative to the Côte d’Or and much of the New World.” Buy enough!

Stephen Tanzer (of International Wine Cellar) gives his take on the 2009 white burgundies: “The wines from a number of estates I visited seem much fresher and more classic-aromatic, silky and utterly beguiling.” It is interesting to me that St Veran was intended to be part of Pouilly Fuisse when that area received its AOC back in the 30′s, but St Veran rejected the idea. Most growers were making red wine back then and they didn’t think it would be an advantageous fit. Also, appellations were a new concept and St Veran was a feisty small bunch of growers who feared the government was going to start butting into their business.

It wasn’t until 1971 that St Veran received its official AOC. This reinvigorated the area, convincing many of the growers to stop selling in bulk, start taking more care about quality, and begin bottling their own wines.

Let’s all have a glass of Collovray &Terrier St Veran, shall we? Cynthia Hurley

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 Puy Galland comes from Bordeaux, where
the Cotes de Francs vineyards
are in the undiscovered (and high value)
area just 10K east of Saint-Emilion.

Cotes de Francs. A rolling, green part of Right Bank Bordeaux that’s producing some of Bordeaux’s least known but most amazing wine values.

The Thienpont family first put Cotes de Francs on the map. They own Le Pin in Pomerol. You remember, Le Pin. It set an auction record a while back – 12 bottles went for $32,000. They know how to make wine.

The Thienponts recognized what glorious terroir there was in Cotes de Francs which is just northeast of Saint-Emilion and they bought Chateau Puygueraud and then other chateaux. Hubert de Bouard of Chateau Angelus caught on next and bought a chateau for himself there and suddenly people started paying attention – including myself.

I’ve always got my eyes open when it comes to affordable Bordeaux made by winemakers whose livelihood actually depends upon their making a knockout wine. Of course, I am especially keen on finding them in good Bordeaux vintages years like 2006.

In fact 2006 is a very fine vintage but equally important it is now 5 years old is is getting very ready to drink. and it will drink nicely over the next several years.

These smaller, family owned chateaux often are not too good at the marketing part, but they’re great at the wine making part, which is what I care about. I don’t expect my wine to come to me via some snazzy press kit – I’m willing to go out and break a trail if I have to. The rewards for doing this are often stunning.

All of this points right to Chateau Puy Galland. Bernard Labatut’s Chateau Puy Galland is exactly what I look for. A classy Bordeaux with flesh and black cherries, very round in the mouth. Many people don’t realize it, but there are a lot of affordable wines in Bordeaux that just get shouldered aside by the Classified Growth buzz. Yes, you can drink great Bordeaux every night – you just have to know where to find them.

Bernard Labatut is the third generation to work the vines at Chateau Puy Galland. His 26-year-old son will soon take the reins. Bernard likes the organic approach to wine growing. He de-leafs and green harvests to produce better quality, riper grapes.

Bernard inspects all his grapes and rejects anything that is unripe as they are harvested on his table de tri to ensure there are no losers getting into the crush. He uses oak judiciously to maintain a balance between fruit and tannin. He is dedicated to quality and works with oenologist Jean Philippe Faure at winemaker to the stars Michel Rolland’s oenology firm.

There is a round, substantial, dark-fruitiness to this wine. Bernard Labatut suggests nothing less than foie gras for his beauty, but I think we can stoop to things less lofty. I’ve had Puy Galland with a roast chicken or a grilled pork chop and the wine didn’t seem to be embarrassed at all.

Let’s have some ready to drink Bordeaux tonight. Cynthia Hurley

 Eric’s Rully Preaux premier cru Label

The shipment of the delicious 2008 de Suremain Rully Burgundy has docked, but be aware it never lasts very long. Many of you already know that Eric de Suremain has got a talent for making wine that far out-strips its appellation.

“…the average 2008 will make for really lovely medium-term drinking though there will also be a few long distance runners.

” The best ’08s are fresh, intense, bright, vibrant and very terroir- driven – in short it’s a classic Burgundian vintage. And as I noted in my vintage analysis last year, it is on the whole more interesting than either 2007 or 2006. And in a few cases, the wines are truly brilliant so don’t overlook them..” -Allen Meadows, Burghound, on the 2008 red Burgundies.

Every time I have a shimmering glass of Suremain’s Rully, I wonder why everybody is not incurably attached to French Pinot Noir. “Why, there’s nothing quite like it,” I say to myself as the swirl of berries fills my mouth. I’ve tasted it from every country in world, but Burgundy’s is still the most exquisite expression of the grape type.

The flavors seem embedded in every molecule and they skip across my taste buds scattering black cherry, raspberry, minty, leathery, chocolaty fairy dust along the way. A refill, please.

“I love the best 2008s; they are my kind of Burgundies. …The best wines of the vintage are pure, racy, perfumed midweights that accurately showcase their terroir —in all its fruity, spicy, floral, mineral glory—and deliver classic Burgundy intensity without weight. While very few wines are truly full-bodied, many are densely packed and rich in extract. .” -Stephan Tanzer IWC

You already know my Burgundy philosophy: find the passionate, talented growers in lesser-known appellations that will deliver all the Pinot Noir character without the big price tag. Sure, invest in a few bottles of the hallowed ones, but keep the Rully on hand by the case to drink as often as you like. Rully is a Chalonnaise wine which is part of Burgundy, just south of the more famous Cote de Beaune.

Eric de Suremain took his vineyards biodynamic in 1996. He was way ahead of his time, still is. Eric de Suremain does not embrace every little technological miracle that comes along. He still believes in getting up close and personal with his grapes by practicing pigeage — good old-fashioned foot-stomping. His yields are very low. His vines are old. He is restrained when it comes to new wood. Eric’s wines remain in barrel for as long as two years. His wines are long-lived and will drink well up to ten years or more.

His philosophy about winemaking sounds simple, but is really profound: “there are no petites annees, it is just the balance which counts.” This means that he is a flexible winemaker who adjusts for the variables in every vintage. He doesn’t try to match the juice to his winemaking, he matches his winemaking to the juice and it is that skillful balancing act that makes a wine seem like a seamless wave of pure, expressive ripe, Pinot flavor. Cynthia Hurley

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 Philippe Kubler’s simple,
no-fluff label.

Have you been thinking about pouring that first splash of Alsace into your glass? There is probably no better time to take the plunge than right now because of the very successful recent vintages that are available.

If you are already a fan, now is the time to stock the cellar.

Wine Spectator rates the 2008 vintage an A and goes on to call it,

“An excellent vintage across the board. All of the region’s grape varieties performed well, and the type of acidity being reported by growers should help Riesling in particular.”

I just can’t get enough of the Philippe Kubler wines. I have been drinking them all week and every bottle “seduces” me. That word comes from La Revue du Vin de France. They are beautiful, dry, white wines with pert acidity and floral notes, that are so much better than other Alsace wines I’ve had.

Robert Parker has praise for Kubler as well:

“After earning his oenology degree from Bordeaux, and a stage at Cloudy Bay, young Philippe Kubler – took over at his family’s domaine beginning with the 2004 vintage. Based on the several samples that reached me while in Alsace from his second harvest, this is a vigneron to watch.” -eRobert Parker.com

“Philippe Kubler is a young, idealistic, grower who will take risks to go for the utmost quality in his wines.” -La Revue du Vin de France

Let me tell you a little bit more about Philippe Kubler. Estates can be very old in Alsace. The Kublers have been making wine since 1620. Amazing! The Domaine is made up of only 9 hectares (about 22 acres).The age of the vines averages 30 years. They pick the grapes by hand. They age the wines in Alsatian oak foudres (big oak casks) for 8 to ten months.

The vineyards are spread around Soultzmatt which is in southern Alsace near Colmar and Eguisheim. It is warmer here and ripening was very successful in 2008

Philippe, himself, is very accomplished. After getting his Master’s in oenology from Bordeaux University, Philippe snagged a job making wine at Doisy Daene (one of my favorite Sauternes) with Denis Dubourdieu (one of Bordeaux’s most famous white winemakers and consultants).

He then went on to Burgundy and worked with Colin Deleger making one of Burgundy’s finest Chassagne Montrachets – all this, in addition to his stint at Cloudy Bay in New Zealand.

I am so glad I met Philippe Kubler. I had been looking for a great dry Rieslings from Alsace for a long time. The problem is they can be watery and deluted or they can be sweet with to much residual sugar, just not my style. This limited production effort from Philippe is everything I want: true Riesing floral expression with a delicious minerally finish.

Philippes’s Pinot Blanc 2010 is loaded with lemons and other fruits with some minerals and even some spicy hints on the finish. It is a beautifully pure white that is priced at every day levels. I keep a bottle handy.

Kubler’s Riesling Breitenberg 2008 (2008 was rated a straight A in Alsace from Wine Spectator) is a bit more structured than the Pinot Blanc with its peaches and citrus and spices. It is unctuous and deserves a wonderful fish dinner with perhaps even a creamy sauce. But, you know the great thing about Riesling is its perfect marriage with sushi.

By the way this might be the perfect Thanksgiving white.

If you love Alsace wine, then this is your moment, and if you don’t know much about Alsace wines, won’t you give these wines a try? Cynthia Hurley

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Baronnie Madeleine is a red Chinon cuvee from famous Domaine Couly Dutheil. It is made from Chinon’s two best vineyards (Clos de l’Echo & Clos d’Olive) and selected for bottling only in the great wine years (like 2009).

That’s a mouthful and so is Baronnie Madeleine. This wine is 100% Cabernet Franc, as are all finest reds of the Loire Valley. But this is an exceptional example of Chinon Cabernet Franc in an exceptional vintage.

How exceptional? The 2009 red vintage in Chinon is equaled by only 2005 and the legendary 1989 in the past 20 years. Certainly think about getting some 2009s and Baronnie Madeleine is without doubt one to stock up on.

Wine Spectator is a longtime fan of Couly Dutheil’s Baronnie Madeleine, and has awarded the wine a rating of 90 points or higher not just this year but for 5 of the most recent 7 vintages .

Here is what they said about the 2009:
“This fleshy, toasty style offers a core of dark plum and raspberry notes, laced with roasted apple wood and maduro tobacco. A nice, mouthwatering tapenade note adds length on the finish. Drink now through 2013. 5,000 cases made. Rated 90, -JM, Wine Spectator

The wine is complex with intense aromas with a seductively silky palate of ripe red fruits. It is round and charming, crafted with much thought to honor Madeleine Dutheil, daughter of Baptiste Dutheil who founded the estate in 1921. Madeleine Dutheil was the grandmother of the estate’s winemaker, Arnaud Couly.

In making Baronnie Madeleine in honor of his grandmother, Arnaud seeks to create a cuvee representing the “feminine ideal” in wine: richness and elegance – a wine that is round and charming with complex but soft tannins that will have good ageing potential.

Domaine Couly Dutheil rarely mixes terroirs; their philosophy is one wine per vineyard to allow the vineyard to express itself and that is why each of the Couly Dutheil wines are so uniquely distinctive.

But Baronnie is a special exception to this philosophy Baronnie Madeleine (only made in very good vintages) comes from several of the best Chinon vineyards including the Clos de l’Echo and the Clos de l’Olive vineyards. Clos de l’Echo has been under vine for close to 1000 years and was once owned by the King of France.

Clos de l’Echo was originally planted by Monks in the 9th century. When the Chinon fortress was built in the 10th and 11th centuries the vineyard was enclosed inside its walls. The reason for the name Clos de l’Echo is that if you stand in the vineyard and shout, your voice will echo off the great Chateau’s walls and come back to you. The grapes come from hillside land with southern exposure. The soil is clay with silica and chalk. Clos de l’Echo is without a doubt the finest Cabernet Franc vineyard in Chinon and possibly the most venerable red wine vineyard in all of the Loire Valley.

All the vineyard work at the Domaine is based upon organic principles using treatments that are good to the environment. There is a manual harvest and strict grape selection. Yields are well below the average for the region There is full de-stemming. All of this yields a silky and seductive wine.

This is one of the loveliest Loire wines you can put in your glass. Have you started to love them yet? You know, the longer I drink wine, the more reds from the Loire end up in my glass. These wines have a purity about them that I love. There are no sharp edges. They are not heavy yet they are substantial and bursting with berry flavor, to say nothing about their affordability. Cynthia Hurley

 Marsannay Clos du Roy

I knew immediately when I tasted this wine that I wanted it in my cellar.

La Revue has called Bernard “one of the most talented winemakers of his generation.” He is one of the new generation of winemakers who has melded the best of the thinking of previous generations and huge respect for his vineyards with minimal intervention in the winemaking process.

When I tasted the 2008s in Cotes de Nuits Burgundies, I thought they were fabulous, particularly the wines of Bernard Bouvier. This is a wine with material! and complexity.

“”The most successful 2008s are sharply delineated, classic Burgundies with the complex fruit, mineral, floral and soil perfume and the inner-palate energy that other pinot- producing regions can only dream about-, IWC Steven Tanzer

And from Allen Meadows at Burghound ” The best ’08s are fresh, intense, bright, vibrant and very terroir- driven – in short it’s a classic Burgundian vintage. And as I noted in my vintage analysis last year, it is on the whole more interesting than either 2007 or 2006. And in a few cases, the wines are truly brilliant so don’t overlook them.” -Burghound

If you are after a great expression of the best of French Pinot Noir at a refreshingly sane price (and who isn’t these days?), you cannot ignore Bernard Bouvier.

Where is Marsannay? It is on the northernmost border of the northern Cotes de Nuits – just north of Gevrey-Chambertin. The Bouvier family has owned vineyards in the village of Marsannay at the northernmost border of the Cote d’Or for four generations.

Bernard’s Marsannay Clos du Roy comes from a 5 acre vineyard high on the Marsannay slope. The vines are old – an average of 60 years. Bernard uses 30% new oak for Clos du Royand ages the wine 18 months. You don’t get to be one of the best winemakers of your generation without a lot of effort and know-how.

The robe of Clos du Roy is a dense purply hue. The nose is of black fruits with some flowery notes of iris and violet. The mouth feel is ample. It’s a Burgundy with substance. Bernard makes only about 400 cases of Clos du Roy total to satisfy the entire planet.

Put your name on some of these bottles; you will be rewarded. Cynthia Hurley

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 The Saumur Blanc presentation
from Domaine Lavigne.

Amazingly, mother nature has shown favorably upon the Loire Valley again in 2010, offering up yet another great vintage.

Wine Spectator writes “France’s Loire Valley…now looks to have rare back-to-back strong vintages in the pipeline. The 2010 harvest appears to be a potentially outstanding follow-up to the excellent 2009 vintage.”

I was in Saumur earlier this summer tasting the 2010 whites at Domaine Lavigne including this delicious Saumur Blanc. Everyone I spoke to in the Loire felt that while 2009 was a wonderful ripe vintage the 2010s had better acidity. In white wines acidity is what makes the difference and between refeshing and crisp and just Ok. It also magnifies the fruit. Acidity is a delicate thing to get just right but in 2010 that is what you get. A perfect refreshing white wine at a no-holding-back price.

Wine Spectator further specifies, “[2010] Wines should be fresher in style than the concentrated 2009s, with brighter acidity.” For Chenin Blancs specifically, they bestow a high rating of 89-92!

Now, as for the Domaine Lavigne Saumur Blanc, I am telling you this wine is charmant. It is made from the Chenin Blanc grape – like Vouvray. The wine seems to shimmer with a faint light. Crisp! It’s the acidity level more than anything else I think that makes it special. Nothing flabby squatting on my tongue. Its lithe and springy, bouncing around in my mouth with dashes of pears and grapefruits and lemons (Pascale would say peches blanches). I love it!

Domaine Lavigne is in the commune of Varrains which is between Angers and Tours in the Loire Valley. The Domaine is a family effort. Gilbert Lavigne and his daughter, Pascale, and son-in-law, Antoine Veron run the domaine. Their small production Chenin Blanc (they have only 5 hectares) is the object of a lot of family attention. It is a very special part of their family domaine. They have a palm tree right inside the walls of their domaine, which tells you something about the climate.

Pascale would shrug if I told her it was great with pizza. She would suggest a fish fillet in clarified butter or scallops or trout. I say you can even risk it all on its own — no food at all. Oh, la la. We won’t tell Pascale. Cynthia Hurley

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 The Domaine Guintrandy
Vieilles Vignes label
- 90 year old vines

The regular bottling off this high value Cotes du Rhone Villages Visan has been a huge success . Now I have received a very limited amount of Olivier’s very old vineyard cuvee that he bottles separately, Same care in the wine making but much lower yields, more profound flavors. Don’t miss the chance to experience what a difference old vine, lower yield production delivers in this 80 year old vine, 80% Grenache bottling.

Is it even possible that the southern Rhone has done it yet again? Wine Spectator rates the 2009 southern Rhone vintage a 93-96! “A cross between ’05 and ’07,” Wine Spectator raves, “with ripe fruit and polished tannins.”

Robert Parker agrees, bestowing a 93 on the southern Rhone vintage, and writing, “At the minimum, 2009 is an excellent vintage in the south.”

It looks like more great news from the southern Rhone. In fact, this is a drinker’s vintage: sumptuous, readily accessible fruit and soft tannins.

Of course, all wines from the same area are not created equal, even in a great vintage like 2009, and as La Revue du Vin de France wrote, “If you want to understand Visan, then Olivier Cuilleras is your man.”

The hierarchy of Rhone wines is as follows: while there are some lovely Cotes du Rhones, a Cotes du Rhones-Villages is decidedly a step above, and above that, there are nineteen communes authorized to append their respective village name on the label (as in this Cotes du Rhone Villages-Visan), which is an indication of their superiority.

How selective is the difference between Cotes du Rhone and the Cotes du Rhone Villages-named villages? Pretty selective – they represent the top 7-8% of the southern Rhone vineyards.

The wines coming from Visan are more precocious than many other area commune. Its altitude (about 100 meters above other villages), and the high concentration of Grenache (over 80% at Domaine de Guintrandy), and the varied soils around the small hilltop village benefiting from the slope, make wines of complexity, concentration and structure.

The Cuilleras family has owned the Domaine de Guintrandy since 1850. Olivier is the sixth generation to work the vines here. Olivier’s first vintage was in 2000. He took over the family estate from his father who up until that time had been selling his grapes to the cooperative. That was the way things went back then, but Olivier had other ideas. He wanted to make his own wine and put the name Cuilleras on the label and on the map. And that is what he has done.

Olivier uses a blend of almost 80% Grenache (the rest is Syrah) in his “old vines” bottling. The results are striking and complex. He does not filter his wines which means all the flavor that is created from the juice mingling with the skins during the elevage does not actually get removed before the wine gets into the bottle and you and I get to drink it. He uses a combination of new and old barrels to age the wine. The vines in the Vieilles Vignes bottling are very old – 80 years!

His estate is on top of a hill which makes it less vulnerable to the scorching weather on the valley floor. Olivier has some of the best soil in the region – clay and limestone – great drainage on the top and water retention down below to pull the roots through those times of drought.

This is one of the best Cotes du Rhones-Villages (and Rhone values) I’ve found. It’s got its fruit in all the right places. Cynthia Hurley

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Get that corkscrew twistin’ like Chubby Checker! Open some Madiran. Yes, little known Madiran! The wine that comes from where the duck breasts sizzle, the foie gras melts in your mouth and Stayin Alive is easy with all that resveratrol in your glass!

The Laplace family estate is called Chateau d’Aydie (die-dee).

Here’s what Andrew Jefford (The New France) says about Aydie:

“This is one of the most immaculately and professionally run domains in the whole of France.”

La Revue du Vin de France says, “The wines made here offer very beautiful harmony between the sweetness of the fruit and the firmness of the tannins.”

Pour this Madiran in your glass and you’ll say, “This is one great wine!” Have you had a glass of Madiran recently?

I couldn’t wait to get to Madiran which is in remote territory almost three hours south of Bordeaux (which means you’re not too far from Spain) because I’ve wanted to import a Madiran for a long time.

So what if it was a two-lane highway most of the way and I was behind a hay truck! I could practically smell that rich Tannat urging me on. One off-site taste of the Laplace Madiran several weeks earlier told me this Madiran was definitely the one; I had been instantly seduced by its fearless, rich blackberry and currant flavors and its roundness. Let’s get this hay truck into third gear!

Oh and by the way, Madiran is the wine with the most, I mean really the most resveratrol, which is the stuff that keeps you alive and pumping. Did you see 60 Minutes a couple of weeks ago – they made this sound like the fountain of youth. It looks like this stuff makes your organs think they’re thirty again or so scientists tell me. But, even if you’re skeptical, what’s the down side? This is very good-tasting medicine and I plan to be pulling a lot of corks from now on just to be safe.

Chateau d’Aydie is the name of their flagship wine and well as their estate. This wine is 100% Tannat. It has extraordinary freshness because of the clay/chalk soil. The vines are 30 years old. The juice is aged for 18 months in French oak barrels, 50% of which are new.

Chateau d’Aydie also produces a very fine wine they call Laplace Madiran which is 80% Tannat and 20% Cabernet Sauvignon. It fills your mouth with rich and rounded berry flavors and you’re still tasting it long after there is just a little purple stain in your glass.

Chateau d’Aydie is in a utopian spot on a hilltop overlooking a panorama of vineyards sheltered by the curves of the River Ardour. I knew I was in for some good bottle tilting here, but I didn’t expect Marie to stage a banquet of white asparagus, slabs of foie gras the size of my TV remote control and duck breasts which must have come from some super avian breed.

Lunch was over at 5pm.

You can’t have a discussion about Madiran without talking about tannat. Tannat is Madiran. And, it is not an easy-going little grape. It can’t be machine-harvested because the machine can’t shake those stubborn grapes off the vine.

Then, add to that, Tannat takes forever to ripen. So, break out of your molds and give these two southwesterners a try. Get the duck breasts browning and the corkscrew working. These Madirans are fantastic and you’ll have a lot of fun serving them. There will be appreciative murmurs around the table and they’ll probably think they’re drinking a flashy Bordeaux. They don’t have to know that it cost about half as much. Cynthia Hurley

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