Wine of the Week: Chateau Montus 2003 Madiran

This wine departs from my usual picks because it is not as widely available, and because it is only under twenty dollars if you buy a half bottle! Still, when I sampled it at a wine tasting about a month and a half ago, I knew that I would have to write a post about it. First, the specifics: I purchased this wine through the hosts of the tasting for about seventeen dollars for the half bottle (375 ml). It is a relatively high alcohol blend of 80% Tannat and 20% Cabernet Sauvignon, and is from the Madiran appellation in Southwest France.

The wine is extremely dark purple in color, even inky. The aromas are of currant, blackberry, tobacco, and leather, but the taste is really what makes this wine interesting to me. At first, almost no fruit comes through, and the wine is really all about the tannins, and woody, smoky, non-fruit flavors. It is only after it has been given some time to breathe that any fruit comes through, cassis and blackberry most notably, on the mid-palate. In the meantime, the wine is full-bodied with a long, coarse finish. Tannins are prominent, but not astringent, lending it a smooth, "chewy" texture. The balance is only threatened slightly by the high alcohol. Once this wine has had some time to open up, the fruit, the tannins, the acid, and the alcohol all play nicely. Before that? It is an interesting change to have a wine that is not so juicy. Definitely worth a try if you come across a bottle.