1996 Château Montus Madiran- France, Southwest France, Madiran (8/25/2018)
Hot damn this is a special wine! We had no idea what we’d find here. The fill level was good, not spectacular, and the source was reliable, so there was cause for optimism. Light red to reddish brown in color, not fully saturated and a bit cloudy. On first pour, there were some notes of VA which dissipated quickly, to be followed by wafting red cherries, currants, spices, rose petals, and leather - a toe in Piemonte, Jonathan said. In the mouth, the acid sprang forward, accompanied by the same solid fruit profile as on the nose, plus deep bloody notes of iron and steel. With some time, it developed a very interesting core of lemon drop - as if a hard candy with the outside of roses, currants, leather and spice had a lemon center. Secondary characteristics galore, without any degrading of structure. To be sure, there were austere notes, which wouldn’t have been pleasing to everyone - even for us it needed food. You can throw all the meat and fat you want at this and it will take it in stride. Speaking of food, though terrific with the leftover leg of lamb we had, this screamed for cassoulet, so it could do the job it was born to do. By the end of the bottle, I might have mistaken it for Bordeaux, save for that acid backbone which no Bordeaux has ever boasted, though many have coveted and even more have needed. So glad we bought a full case of this!
I rarely post notes from CT to Berserkers unless it’s something I think might truly be of interest, or provide some new information; not just another data point saying a well known wine that is known to be drinking well is, yet again, drinking well. Glad this was of of interest to some folks.
Very much of interest to me, especially with such a vivid note. I’ve never had a Madiran with any age on it. Now I think I need to make that happen, even if it means buying a younger vintage of this and sitting on it. Thanks for posting.
I took a 1995 to a restaurant recently but unfortunately it was corked. Otherwise pretty young and seemingly in very good shape, in my cellar from release. I may pull another one out soon.
I have had multiple bottles of the 1995 both the standard as well as the cuvée prestige. All seemed young and not really evolving at all and then the most recent bottle of cuvée prestige seemed OTH. I’m assuming bottle variation or maybe it didn’t age as well as the standard wine. Your note seems more in line with my other experiences and really leaves me wondering when to open my magnum.
That’s a good price for any Madiran…but I’d note that I don’t think these are mass market tastes. I’ve never understood why Costco would carry this (I see it in mine too, other producers too now). It just seems like too geeky/severe of a style for them.
This used to be one of the most obscure wines I bought and loved – tannat from the Basque region – and it was the most bizarre thing when it started showing up (not even that infrequently) at my Costco a few years ago.
Now, I could totally be being influenced by that fact, but . . . these more recent vintages I’ve bought sometimes at Costco, they’re good wines and good QPR, but they do seem more generic and ordinary to me than the early 2000s and late 1990s vintages I first loved. Maybe more ripeness, more oak? Fruit has gone from more purple to black? I’m not sure, and I haven’t tried those various wines at the same ages to where I could say with much authority.
I opened a 2003 last year and it was in a beautiful place. A really nice wine, great evolution, great value. I don’t know if these 2010s vintages will be like that or not.
It’s crazy but I think I’ve seen 2-3 different Madiran producers at my Costco in the last few years. At least they keep them near the half dozen bdx they carry at any given time. I’m not sure how these get sold since they don’t do any sampling, and its not real obvious that the AOC does any marketing. (Rioja, Chianti etc. all seem to run trade shows, take out magazine advertisements etc.)
All this makes me think I haven’t made a cassoulet in a while. It’s kind of a lot to eat without a good wine group.
The 1990’s bottles are outstanding. The 2010’s wines are just super polished, oaky and somewhat gloopy. Of the Brumont’s wines, Montus is much more modern and comes across as rather “new world” with its sweet oak sheen and rather soft tannins (a classic Madiran should be crazy tannic). I prefer Bouscasse, which has always been more restrained and old-school in style - while it is quite modern these days, it has less oak and more tannic structure.
You are very correct. The style has changed dramatically. The 1990’s wines (both Montus and Bouscasse) saw less oak and both wines can be still more tannic after 25 years than a new, freshly released bottle of either. Made in a much softer, accessible and more generic style - I’ve had a few times a new release of Montus tasted blind and couldn’t come up with Madiran. I’ve always thought of some modern - perhaps new world - Cab.
These wines always deliver. In 1998, at what I believe was a double blind tasting of 1995 Bordeaux that included Pontet-Canet, Certan de May, Leoville Barton, Lagrange, Calon Segur, Lynch-Bages, Cos D’Estournal, Leoville Poyferre, Ducru Beaucaillou, La Conseillante and Pichon Baron, someone stuck in a '95 Montus- Madiran Cuvee Prestige as a ringer and it came in first place.
I had a bottle of Bouscassé Vieilles Vignes 2000 a couple of days ago which was excellent. Madirans are not really my type of wine nowadays and I haven’t bought any for several years, but the Bouscassé was a great example of one - intense flavours of forest fruits, quite spicy, a big wine but well balanced and not without elegance. I preferred the style of the 90s and I have fonder memories of the 1990, but they are certainly worth seeking out, not least because they are cheap! The Bouscassé VV cost me a paltry 15€ 20 years ago but can be found at auction here for around 25€ to 30€. The South West is a region that has consistently escaped attention and simply does not attract the same demand as other regions do.
I preferred the Bouscassé VV to a bottle of Madiran Prestige 2000 I had recently but can well believe that either would show well as ringers in blind tastings.
In terms of style and taste for those who have never tried them, I would say that they are like a mix of Domaine de Chevalier and Léoville-Barton on steroids!
