If a highly paid marketing consultant had come to Plaimont a decade ago, they might have given the following advice: give up on these difficult-to-pronounce, unusual grape varieties with their…
Vignes Préphylloxérique: a Tannat made from ungrafted vines planted in 1871
For the last few days I have been with Plaimont Producteurs in southwest France. They are a sizeable company who source from 5000 hectares of vines and make 38 million…
Château Plaisance ‘Alabets’ 2010 Fronton, France
Marc Pénavaye’s Château Plaisance consists of 30 hectares of vines in the Fronton appellation, near Toulouse in southwest France. This is a varietal Negrette, which is such an interesting red…
A unicorn wine, the Clos Joliette Jurancon
I have just written up a tasting of Jurançon Sec held at The Sampler a while ago. You can read it here. One of the wines was truly remarkable. It’s…
A brilliant Fronton for under a tenner
I just love this wine. It’s a red from near Toulouse, and specifically the region of Fronton, where the Negrette grape is king. There’s just so much to love about…
Another cracker from the Southwest of France: Domaine du Merchien JAS
Domaine du Merchien is owned by a Brits David and Sarah Meakin, who moved to the southwest of France (Coteaux de Quercy) to farm and make wine. This wine, JAS,…
Hmmm, Marcillac!
I was delighted to find a spattering of new wines from the southwest of France in The Sampler yesterday, when I attended the icon tasting. I bought one – a…
Marcillac: an affordable wine to fall in love with
Forget points. Forget shopping-list tasting notes. Forget wine tasting as a ‘competition’ to see which wine is best. The endorsement I will give this wine is that I love it….