Château Bouscasse Madiran 2013 (screw cap)

50% Tannat, 25% Cabernet Sauvignon and 25% Cabernet Franc yielding 45 hl/ha. Malo is done in barrel and the wine is bottled without filtration. A very perfumed and refined expression of Madiran offering more body and depth than many Bordeaux at prices that reach well above the modest price for this wine. Fragrant with blackcurrants plum and spice. Wonderfully fresh on the palate with remarkably refined tannins.

'Others were there before him, but it was Alain Brumont who put Madiran on the wine map. He left the family domaine at Boucasse in 1980, dissatisfied by his fathers lack of ambition for quality, and set up on his own. In a mere 20 years, Brumont has succeeded by a combination of breathtaking chutzpah and brilliant winemaking in creating the largest fine wine domaine in the south-west and establishing without a doubt that Tannat is a first division quality grape variety. The basic Bouscasse (70 percent Tannat) and Montus (80 percent Tannat) are matured in 50% new wood, and are very fine. The better cuvees, both 100% Tannat and aged in new wood, are brilliant.' Clive Coates, The Wines and Domaines of France

The appellations of Madiran and Pacherenc du Vic-Bihl co-exist in the alluvial foothills of the Pyrenees and are located 160 kms almost directly south of Bordeaux. Madiran is the appellation for red wines with the main red wine grape variety being Tannat which is often blended with a little Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc or Fer-Servadou. Tannat retains very good natural acidity and produces very deep and rich wines with remarkable structure and in skilled hands it reveals wines of amazing depth, complexity and concentration of flavour which with age become supple with round textures and fine tannins. These wines can age superbly.