Madiran

[Ianjaig]

Was wondering what people’s thoughts/impressions were of Madiran – a wine region that seems to fly under the radar somewhat? I first discovered these wines when living in London, 20 odd years ago. There was a renowned cheese shop in Highbury, Islington (La Fromagerie) that used to also sell the odd bottle of wine and if memory serves me right, they were all exclusively Madiran. I would sometimes pick up a bottle on the way home and on a cold, dreary London winter day, these were just the ticket.

I picked up a Chateau Aydie 2015 a couple of days ago to see if I still enjoyed these and was pretty impressed. Highly tannic, yet with raspberries, coffee and liquorice poking through, this went well with food.

Apologies if there is a previous post on this (I couldn’t see anything) but was interested in others impression of this wine region.

[Blanquito]

Never had a madiran, but I did buy some 95 Montus Cuvee Prestige not long ago that I need to try. Seems like a region that should have some unknown gems in it, like Cahors.

[SF Ed]

I like Madiran - its made of Tannat, one of my favorite grapes.

Montus is the good stuff - I drank a lot of 90's Montus back in the day. Perfect/classic pairing with cassoulet.

SF Ed

[AKR]

Madiran is hard core tannin pig stuff, rarely see it mentioned except among real Francophiles. I put down some Montus in the 90's, and again in the 2010 vintage. The classic combo is cassoulet, but really anything greasy that could use some drying tannins would be fine.

It's not a style of wine that has been updated for the modern palate, although there are some producers supposedly making wines that may be able to consumed younger. Microbullage and destemming and all the modern tannin control mechanisms are used.

I wonder if Cornas held the same rather low repute as Madiran does, circa 1989 or something.

[OrlandoRobert]

Not a shocker to those that know me, I like these country wines. Months is the flagship. I don’t find them often. Occasionally I grab some off WineBid.

[AKR]

https://www.wineberserkers.com/forum/vi ... s#p2451440

Montus has been sort of available at Costco locally for the 2010-2016 vintages so far, which is really bizarre.

There are other lesser known Madirans which go for a song too.

[Ianjaig]

Madiran is hard core tannin pig stuff,

Lol! "Hardcore" is a great way to describe Madiran

Finished off the Château d'Aydie last night. It had settled down a bit, whilst still displaying intense tannic grip. My gums were stuck together by the end, but I enjoyed this, and will look to pick up some more.

[AKR]

You can chew on tea leaves if you need tannin too