Tasted September 09 - January 2010

I've been fortunate enough to taste three different vintages of this spectacular wine over the last few months, so couldn't resist the temptation to show off a bit and bring you a comparison of the three. The 1999 and 1995 are his 'Cuvee Prestige'.

Montus is France's best kept secret: the finest estate in Madiran in the deep South West of France. Winemaker Alain Brumont has led a revolution in the growing and vinification of the region's traiditonal Tannat since purchasing several terroirs in the 80s and the wine is often compared favourably with the very best of Bordeaux (indeed top critic Andrew Jefford lists it in his Top Ten wines from the South West). This wine is truly world class and (despite the fact that prices for these wines are up to £50) represents phenomenal value for money.

www.brumont.fr

Grape Varieties: Chateau Montus is 80% Tannat and 20% Cabernet Sauvignon. The Cuvee Prestige is 100% Tannat.

Region: Madiran, South West France

Soil Type: Steeply sloping vineyards of gravel with a clay subsoil. Brumont also makes a wine from more clay heavy vineyards called Chateau Bouscasse.

Winemaking: The key to this wine is in selection, both in the vineyard where yields are kept very low and at harvest when only the best grapes are used. Each wine undergoes malo-lactic fermentation in a mix of American and French oak barrels: 50% new and 50% old.

ABV: Chateau Montus is 14.5%. Information on the Cuvee Prestige N/A

Tasting Note
Chateau Montus 2006 This is the baby of the trio, and in its youth shows intense concentration. Deeply powerful with immense dark fruit flavours and an inky character, an earthy minerality is clearly discernable but this wine really is built to age!
Chateau Montus, Cuvee Prestige 1999 I tasted this at a trade event, and it prompted what is the longest note I think I've ever written at a tasting: "Incredible concentration yet exressive with a mixture of stewed and dark, dried fruits, sweet spice and young leather with meaty beef stock and tobacco notes. This is still so grippy but the finish is astoundlingly vibrant - if this were from anywhere else it'd be bonkers expensive." I should point out that this was tasted late in the day after some time in a decanter.
Chateau Montus, Cuvee Prestige 1995 Drunk immediately upon decanting and for an hour afterwards, this started off a little thin, with soft leather and earthy spice predominant, but opened out to reveal a broad, deep baritone of a palate with fascinating complexity of fruits. Again, once open this still tasted quite young.
I stumbled across this at a ridiculously low price in a pub in Devon whose name I intend to keep a closely guarded secret (I don't want you lot going in and drinking it all) so sorry, you can't have any!

Cellaring
Tannat is exceptionally long lived, so all three have plenty of life in them. The 1995 could last another 5 years, but the 1999 has at least ten and the 2006 15-20 years.

If you like this, why not try... A bit of a tricky one that, as to get this quality from anywhere else, we're talking three figures. However, you could try Dom Berthoumieu, Madiran Charles Batz to get an idea of the region's style.