Madiran Chateau Montus Brumont 2005

Whatever you think of his methods in garnering publicity for his wines, Alain Brumont is the man who, in effect, redefined Madiran in the 1980s and 1990s and resurrected its reputation. Although he now makes a wide range of wines we are chiefly concerned with those bottled under the Chateau Bouscassé and Chateau Montus labels. Brumont is a strong advocate of the Tannat grape and using new oak to age the wines. Different types of oak give different accents to the wine. He also believes in terroir - indeed he has compared Maumusson to the Napa Valley. And is he a perfectionist. Let him lead you on a tour read more...of his estate as he indicates the finer points of red soil and galet stones. He even grades his organic manure into different vintages. The reds are predictably massive and backward when young like embryonic clarets (but what claret!) but with age the oak will mellow and support the Tannat, creating a profound wine. If the Montus wines are more polished, then the Bouscassé is the more terroir-driven and wilder with the classic nose of 'bois et sous-bois' and hencoop. For reference the Montus Prestige and the Bouscassé vieilles vignes are 100% Tannat, low yields, hand-picked (mais, naturellement), no filtering or fining. The straight Bouscassé and Montus contain some Cab Sauv for light relief.    (hide)