It used to be that studying French wine regions would be a daunting task, and it still can be for many wine students. We all start with the Bordeaux, Burgundy and Beaujolais, then Champagne, and tentatively move out to the Rhone, Loire, Alsace. The regions of Languedoc-Roussillon (where I personally studied) and Provence, depending on your level of study, can be jammed into the Southern France chapter, with a Corsican appendage along for the ride. We dive briefly into Jura and the Savoie before the often-overlooked coup-de-French-wine-study-grace.
The finale, if visited at all, is this beast comprised of small sub-regions and even more obscure grapes that is Southwestern France. It is often the last to be tackled, but it is first on my list of “let’s go live here for a while” when my man retires from the rat race and is free to roam the planet for extended periods of time along with me. This region was the most intriguing during my French Wine Scholar studies. Consider also that I’m an uber geek who has a binder stuffed full of wine region maps scribbled with ink color-coded to weather, soil, geographical, or varietal information. Yet, this region showed me who was boss, and ladies and gentlemen, it was not Val.
Then? We get to the grape varieties.
Tell you what – let’s play a little game called, “Grape or Place.” I’ll list a few key terms below, and you tell me whether it’s a place or a grape (because I sure as hell didn’t know before embarking on this process). It will be fun if you’re a big ol’ cork dork!
Ready?
1.) Marcillac – a) grape; b) place
2.) Fer Servadou – a) grape; b) place
What would be even more fun is if I didn’t give you the answers until next week (and you actually cared, that is).
However, since we got our toes wet we may as well dive in.
1.) Marcillac – a place. This area is located in the Lot sub-region (named after the Lot River that runs just north of Marcillac) and is east of Cahors, a region you may remember as the Malbec capital of the old world before Argentina stole its thunder. They only produce red and rose AOC-level wines.
The place:
Photo credit: southwestfrancewines.com
The Marcillac Vale – Photo credit: http://www.tourisme-aveyron.com
2.) Fer Servadou – a grape. This is a red grape that normally goes by the shortened “Fer,” as well as other names such as Mansois, Pinenc, and Braucol. It is the primary grape of Marcillac (see number 1) and must make up at least 90% of the red wine, if blended. The rest can be Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, and/or Merlot – which you know for a fact, without question, are grapes.
The grape(s):
Photo Credit: wikipedia.en
The wine from place and grapes:
Photo credit: http://www.klwines.com (otherwise known as my guilty pleasure)
If you are still reading at this point, you can see why we’d want to stop here. Plus we’re all probably thirsty now – I know I am. This lovely bottle is Domaine des Costes Rouges “Tandem” 2013 Marcillac. It is on deck for our French Fringe Wine Fun evening this week. Of course it’s always fun (at least for me and other shameless corkdorks) to explore this region a little more.
And more there is. Remember, I said it’s a beast to learn, but the beauty here is that while striking fear into your wine loving heart it should not scare your check book into hiding. This Marcillac is only a $17.00 bottle, and there are many other great value wines from this region. Ripe with red fruits & herbs, moderate in textured tannin and acid, it is medium-plus to full in body, I see no reason to not stock up on this for summer burger fare and let it carry us into fall casserole goodness.
But wait, Val, what about the food? Specialties from this region include beef stew that also has pork, orange and wine in it, so there you go. Pork and prunes is also a regional standard and would work great with this, and may be the exact entree served with this exact wine. And wine not?
Next week? Well, we have some interesting wines lined up, and for a warm up, let’s revisit our game, “Grape or Place.”
Irouleguy, Courbu, Jurancon, Madiran …
… all in the glass and facing down the beast in a beautiful way, with friends, food, and fun.
Cheers ~
(Originally Published 2015/08/02)
