Chateau Montus, French Country Alain Brumont with Tasting notes
Alain Brumont
And The Wines Of Château Montus
Down in deepest south-west France, where the départements of Pyrénées-Atlantiques and Hautes-Pyrénées meet that of Gers, and where Gascon flair and Béarnais attrition combine to provide the nucleus of the French rugby football team, you will find the "old country", or the Vic-Bilh (Vic-Bilh means old country in the langue d’oc) and the wine of Madiran.
Forty years ago this was a dead area. Just as in Cahors, phylloxera and depression had dealt an almost deadly blow. Despite the granting of appellation contrôlée in 1948 there were barely a few dozen hectares under vine, and what they produced was rustic and unmemorable. Madiran in those days was tart and inky when it was young, astringent and dried out when it was mature, having been matured in foudres for several years. There was no new oak, no controlled fermentation, and the local grape, the somewhat muscular Tannat, was falling out of favour and in danger of being obscured under easier varieties such as Cabernet and Merlot.
Today all has changed. The vignoble now covers 1392 hectares, coincidentally exactly the surface it occupied in 1893 before the phylloxera arrived. Tannat is properly recognised as a serious vin-de-garde-producing cépage. And there is a thriving band of domaine-bottling estates, many of whom produce têtes de cuvées. The wines are increasingly worth notice.
This resurgence is largely due to two modern traditionalists: the Laplace family at Château d'Aydie and the Tachouères-Vigneaux at Domaine Pichard, the two who first started to sell their wine in bottle. But the greatest impetus has come from an altogether different personality, Gascon rather than Béarnais, the D'Artagnan mousquetaire flamboyance of Alain Brumont. Brumont produced a Cuvée Prestige from 5 year old 100 percent Tannat vines and 100 percent new oak in 1985. At first the locals declined to give it the "label" of appellation contrôlée. The wine was then referred to a higher authority in Bordeaux. Back it came both with AC status and a message. The message pronounced: "It is the best Madiran we've ever tasted". The press soon buzzed down to Madiran. Brumont's Montus was written up widely. Best wine of the year, said some. Gault et Millau, not to be outdone, pronounced it the Wine of the Decade. This was the wine that put Madiran on the map.
Montus, Bouscassé
And Alain Brumont
Alain Brumont was born in 1946, the sole male child in a family of agriculturalists who had been established at Bouscassé since 1836. Though there were vines, maize was the main crop. After studies at the local lycée agricole, Alain, who had learned to drive a tractor at the age of 8, joined his father at the age of 16. His job was to tend to the fields and the vines; Brumont père occupied himself in the cellars and with the administration. The measure of success was the same for both men and both products: the more the better.
"I was innocent and unsophisticated," says Alain. "I thought the Madiran we made - with 40 percent Cabernet Franc to make it supple and easy to drink early, and using every productive clone and modern chemical fertiliser to push up our yields as high as possible - was a delicious wine. It was all I knew. I was pig ignorant about all the other wines made in the world".
Not far from Madiran is Eugénie-Les-Bains, where you will find the three-star restaurant of Michel Guérard. Towards the end of the 1970s Brumont met Guérard's wine waiter, who had just won the title of Meilleur Sommelier du Monde. This young man began to show Alain Brumont just what he had been missing all his life. In 1979 Brumont joined this friend and a group of other sommeliers on a visit to Bordeaux. What he found there was a revelation.
"It changed my life. I realised that the sort of run-of-the-mill Madiran we produced at home was nul. I came back determined to produce a quality Madiran, and, moreover, to make it largely if not exclusively from Tannat, our indigenous grape, not watered down with other grape varieties. Moreover I wanted to give it a taste of new oak."
Nearby, a dilapidated property called Montus was on the market. The 12 hectare vineyard was en friche, cows being allowed to pasture amid the few surviving stumps of old vines. It had been owned by an old boy who had died seemingly without heirs (when some were eventually traced they were found never to even have heard of their relation, let alone to have met him).
Brumont was eager to buy it. But his father was against what he saw as a foolhardy idea. Nor was the bank prepared to be amenable. "I hadn't a centime," says Alain. "I was totally alone. I had to do absolutely everything myself."
Looking back, as he now does with some pride, Alain Brumont is persistent in not letting you forget what a struggle it was at the outset. Somehow he found the money. Single-handedly he replanted the vineyard, built a chai, put the domaine in order, and, a year later when his father decided to retire, repeated the exercise at Bouscassé. There was a fire. He wasn't insured. The locals were suspicious, unwilling to tend equipment or offer encouragement. They laughed when he insisted on sticking to Tannat and Cabernet Sauvignon. "You must plant Cabernet Franc, Merlot, even Syrah," they said. There was derision when he made it clear he was going to pick by hand, not by machine. Incredulity when he insisted on the importance of terroir and decided to bottle the young vine Montus separately from the old vine Bouscassé. "J'insiste sur mon cépage et mon terroir," said Brumont. "I am going to do it my way."
Then came the 1985 vintage, and five Tannat barrels-worth of Montus. He had already been experimenting with different blends of Tannat and Cabernet, different origins and ages of oak. The wine was bottled, the word went around, and within a year he was being besieged. Everyone wanted to come down and meet the fou de Madiran.
Brumont decided to throw a party for those who were supporting him. Being Brumont it was a party with a difference. All the superstars of the south-west were there: Ramonteu and Hours of Jurançon; Grassa, the wizard of Vin de Pays des Côtes de Gascogne; Patrick Germain of Château Bellevue-la-Forêt, the top wine of Fronton; plus Michel Guérard and all the other leading restaurateurs. In all there were 1000 people. And everyone brought something. The best fromager in the region arrived with a basket of cheese; the best baker with his bread. There were confits, foie gras and charcuterie in profusion. Brumont constructed a corrida. The entertainment was a miniature bullfight. It was a memorable day.
The Wines
Brumont has continued to expand – to the extent where he got into deep financial trouble recently (happily this now seems to have been resolved). He now controls over 200 hectares, plus a sizeable holding of vin de pays (Les Menhirs: Tannat and Merlot). Sixty percent of this is fermentated at Château Montus, 40 percent at Bouscassé.
The land is curious. Most of it is a clay-limestone mixture. You’ll only get so and so wines from this soil. Most of it is planted with maize. Here and there, however, you will come across parcels impregnated with pudding stones, the galets you find at Châteauneuf du Pape. Here you will get good wine.
Château Bouscassé comes in two versions. The lesser wine is made from 65 percent Tannat, 25 Cabernet Sauvignon and 15 Cabernet Franc and is aged in older wood. The Vieilles Vignes - the vines are over 50 years old - comes exclusively from Tannat, macerated for a month and 100 percent new wood. This is a very serious wine indeed. A rival to the Montus Prestige.
The basic Montus comes from 80 percent Tannat, 15 percent Cabernet Sauvignon and 5 percent Fer Servadou and is aged in 50 percent new oak. This is a step above the lesser Bouscassé. The Cuvée Prestige is again pure Tannat, the product of a month-long cuvaison and 100 percent new oak: minimal racking, no fining, no filtration.
More recently two new wines have been launched. From Bouscassé, a Tannat/Cabernet Sauvignon/ Cabernet Franc called Argile Rouge, after the terroir of the vineyard and, from Montus, a super-cuvée called La Tyre. This is from a splendidly sited 15 hectare vineyard. The first vintage was 2000.
Having replaced pumping-over by treading down as long ago as 1994, in 2001 it was decided to introduce a deliberate period of cold soaking before fermentation. The wines were sophisticated before. They are now even more so. Elegance plus strength is the signature of fine Madiran.
The tasting
I sampled the following wines at Château Bouscassé in September 2004.
Chateau Montus, Cuvée Prestige
Chateau Montus, Prestige, 2002 2008-2015
Good colour. Soft, ripe, gently oaky nose. Medium weight on the palate. Quite developed. No hard edges. Fresh and ripe. Long and stylish. Will come forward quite soon. A charming wine.
Chateau Montus, Prestige, 2001 2010-2030
Good colour. Rich, blackfruity nose. Medium-full body. Rich and oaky. Very good acidity. Very long and very elegant. Lovely finish. Ripe tannins. Very fine.
Chateau Montus, Prestige, 2000 2012-2035
Good colour. Firm, quite tannic nose. Quite a full, structured wine. The tannins dominate at the moment. Rich and concentrated. Very good grip. Lots of depth. It just needs time. Fine. But the 2001 is better.
Chateau Montus, Prestige, 1999 Now-2010
Good colour. Ripe, medium weight nose. Medium-body. Less rich, ripe and fat than the surrounding vintages. Less grip too. A wine of less dimension and interest. Good fruit through. Quite good. Just about ready.
Chateau Montus, Prestige, 1998 2009-2030
Good colour. Quite an austere, tannic nose. Medium-full weight. Good ripe tannins, well supported by good acidity. Lovely black fruit flavours. Not as big or as concentrated as the 2000, but long and very stylish. Fine.
Chateau Montus, Prestige, 1997 Now-2008
Medium colour. Fresh nose. Quite developed. Medium body. A pleasant if rather lightweight, one-dimensional wine. Fresh and fruity at the end. Not bad. Fully ready.
Chateau Montus, Prestige, 1996 Now-2009
Good colour. The nose is now softening up. Aromatic and spicy if not specially classy. On the palate it lacks a bit of richness and zip. Medium to medium-full body. But a little charmless. Quite good at best. Just about ready.
Chateau Montus, Prestige, 1995 Now-2020
Very good colour. Rich full, concentrated nose. This is a lot better than the 1996. Medium-full body. Very good fruit. Abundant, ripe and now softening up. Very good finish. Very good indeed.
Chateau Montus, Prestige, 1994 Drink Quite Soon
Good fresh colour. A light weight but fresh, fruity nose. A lightish wine but quite pleasant. Positive at the end.
Chateau Montus, Prestige, 1993 Drink Up
Medium-full, mature colour. Slightly dried out on the nose. Old tea flavours. This was never very special and it is now getting astringent, even attenuated.
Chateau Montus, Prestige, 1992 Now-2009
Mature colour. A little deeper than the 1993. Pleasant fruit on the nose. Medium body. No great depth or interest but better than the 1993 and the 1994. Soft. A point.
Chateau Montus, Prestige, 1991 Now-2009
Good colour. Surprisingly good nose. No lack of fruit and interest. Medium weight. Rather more astringent than the 1992 but better than the 1993 and 1994. Good fruit and acidity. Positive finish. Better with food.
Chateau Montus, Prestige, 1990 Now-2030
Very good colour. Barely mature. Rich, full nose. More old-fashioned than the wines of today. But not rustic. Full, rich and opulent on the palate. Good backbone. Very good grip. Plenty of structure. Long, ample finish. Only just ready. Plenty of future.
Chateau Montus, Prestige, 1989 Now-2035
Splendid colour. Fuller than the 1990. Very impressive nose. Very rich and concentrated. Very succulent ripe fruit. Lots of depth. Lots of finesse. Full body. Rich and chocolaty. Very good grip. Will keep for ages. Even better than the 1990. Very fine.
Chateau Montus, Cuvée La Tyre
Chateau Montus, La Tyre, 2001 2013-2040
Fine colour. Splendid nose. Rich and concentrated and very classy. Quite oaky. Full bodied and very concentrated. Very intense. This is essence of Tannat, but in no way over the top. Very impressive. Needs time. Excellent.
Chateau Montus, La Tyre, 2000 2010-2030
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