Montreal Gazette

Wine choices of France’s Sud-Ouest

- Bill Zacharkiw

Saint-Mont 2014,LesVignes Retrouvées, Plaimont Producteur­s, France white, $12.85, SAQ #10667319: Very aromatic, with tropical notes and a very lemony acidity. Very clean, dry and fresh. Quite delicious and can be drunk with abandon. Serve at 8C. Drink now. Food-pairing: Apéritif, goat-cheese salad, lighter seafood. Marcillac 2014, Lo Sang del Païs, Domaine du Cros, France red, $16.05, SAQ # 743377: Always good. Great fruit, raspberry and a touch of herbs with iron. Very steely, crisp and focused. Beaujolais with a bad attitude. Residual sugar: 2.3 g/l. Serve at 15C. Drink now to 2017. Food-pairing: Apéritif, liver with onions, chicken with tomato sauce. Fronton 2012, Classic, Château Bouissel, France red, $17.65, SAQ # 10675888: Much like the great 2011, the 2012 shows the beginnings of the complexity that comes with age. Negrette with syrah, cabernet and malbec results in a mix of dark and red fruits with a slight mushroom note on the finish. Great acid, round tannin. Very juicy. I like it. Residual sugar: 2g/l. Serve at 16C. Drink now to 2017. Food-pairing: Apéritif, meatballs with herbs. Jurançon sec 2013, Cuvée Marie,

Charles Hours, France white, $23.50, SAQ # 896704: Such power; you can tell this wine wants to be sweeter, but Hours held it back. Tart fruit, spice, so complex. The acidity right now is imposing so carafe this, or hold it for a few years. I’m drinking my 2008s right now. Serve at 8 to 12C. Drink now to 2020. Food-pairing: Shrimp curry, smoked salmon with cream cheese and herbs. Madiran 2010, Château d’Aydie, France red, $25.05, SAQ # 10268553: That’s got pop! This is still so wound up, high-strung. The fruit is there, dark and brooding, with lots of spice on the finish. Acids are zippy. Really, really good and will be even better after a few years in the cellar. Residual sugar: 2.4 g/l. Serve at 18C. Drink now to 2022. Food-pairing: Cassoulet. Irouleguy 2012, Domaine Arretxea, France red, $29.10, SAQ # 12097911: Tannat with cabernet sauvignon and cabernet franc. Structured, yes, but with a glorious amount of fresh fruit notes. Meaty, spicy with gritty tannin, but with enough suppleness that it isn’t bothersome. Will age but can be drunk really well right now. Residual sugar: 2.3 g/l. Serve at 16C. Drink now to 2020. Food-pairing: Roast beef.

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from Canada