Tannat and Madiran wines

Made from the Tannat grape, Madiran has long been considered a rustic wine intended to improve Bordeaux. It was under the inspired influence of its first ambassador, Alain Brumont, that it won its letters of nobility. Today, Madiran wine is to be considered as one of the jewels of Occitanie wines.

A Pyrenean grape variety

It is at the foot of the Pyrenees, on the land of the Adour basin, that the Tannat has found its favorite soils. Fruiting in tight clusters whose bluish black announces deep wines, it is the emblem of Madiran wines. Well adapted to the climate and geology of the southwest, it also irrigates the production of other regional red wines. It is found in the vineyards of Irrouleguy in the Basque country, in those of Tursan attached to the Landes or on the Coasts of Saint-Mont bordering the Adour. Its name it derives from the Occitan language in which the tannat name what seems tanned, an expression probably coming from the brown reflections of its foliage. And of tannat there is only one step in tannin, the astringent character being one of the strong characteristics of the grape variety.

The emblem of Madiran

Probably born from a cross with indigenous Pyrenean grape varieties, the Tannat is from the cotoid family, well established in the vineyards of southwestern Occitania. These have the particularity of appearing as flagship grape varieties that qualify a terroir: the Négrette for the wines of Fronton, the Duras for Gaillac wines or Malbec for Cahors wines. In Madiran, Tannat reigns supreme. Well adapted to the oceanic influences of sometimes sustained rainfall, it finds in the Adour basin autumn conditions conducive to optimal ripening. And when maturity comes, this grape produces wines with expressive fruit, deep red, rich in anthocyanins and very characterized by tannic potential.

A complex wine

To push it to its optimal expression, aging for at least one year is required for Madiran wines. They thus conquer attractive curves commonly optimized by assemblies. This is how the marriage with Cabernet sauvignon will temper the tannins or the alliance with Servadou Fer will accentuate its fruit. Aging in oak barrels is common and traditional practice. The Madiran wine firstly, the dominant expression of small red fruits is increasingly explored by the young generation of winegrowers. However, it captures fascinating complexities as soon as it frequents the wood of barrels or tuns. The concert of tobacco, cinnamon, coffee and chocolate, and exotic wood aromas is expressed. Among the wines of the southwest, the Madiran is to be considered today as the flagship of this Occitan terroir.