2002 France Trip Day 3

Château Montus is located in the Madiran, and here, Tannat is King. We spoke with winemaker Fabrice Dubosc, and started our tour with a discussion about the viticulture. There are two physical facilities involved: Château Montus in the Valley of Adiu (200 ha), and Château Bouscasse, both operations owned by Alain Brumont. The vineyards differ in their terroir: Montus vineyards are planted to slopes (5 to 10%) with the soil profile dominated by small river stones. Château Bouscasse vineyards are less steep, and the soil is more clayey. The Bouscasse wines are very “strong”, and require 10 to 15 years to fully develop. Montus wines are ready to drink earlier. Fabrice did not know how deep the soils were, but he did indicate that there were large differences in wine quality between grapes sourced from Montus (rocky gravel) and those sourced from Bouscasse (heavier clay). To what extent these differences were mediated by differences in vine vigor or canopy characteristics is unknown.

Five years ago the vineyards were planted to relatively low density of 4,000 vines/ha. They started replanting 5 years ago and the new plantings are at 8,000 vines/ha. Fabrice indicated that they’d like to produce 2 kg of fruit per vine, but are currently at around 4 kg/vine (3 to 4 clusters/vine), or 29 to 40 hL/ha. The question was raised and our host confirmed that one Tannat cluster can weigh a kilogram. Similar clones are used at both vineyards. Rootstocks are 3309, 101-14, and Riparia. Spacing was about 1.0 m in rows with a row spacing of 2.0 m. Training is simple Guyot, with VSP (what the French term “palisade”) with aid of catch wires. Canopies are hedged 3x per year. There is a lot or rain here in July and August, but normally very dry in September and October. The best wines are made with Tannat, but Fabrice likes to blend in some Merlot. Cabernet Sauvignon is too vegetative here, and Fer makes wines that are too light – Fabrice does not like the tannins of Fer. One problem with Tannat is that it can have very high alcohol potential. Fabrice normally sees some berry shrivel – “some is good, but [he does] not want to have a lot of shrivel.” Acidity can be high (principally malic), and pH can be high (3.6 – 4.0). They pull leaves from both sides of the canopy to fully expose fruit (rows run N/S). Weed control under the vines was via mechanical means – they try to avoid herbicides. They plant grass in alternate rows on an alternate-year basis, and cultivate every other row middle. The rows are running up and down the slopes; not across.

Our discussion continued inside with a review of the winemaking procedures, followed by an extensive (11) tasting of wines.

Extensive fruit sorting in the field
Cold-soak up to 10 days; non-fermenting due to low temp; SO₂ at 10 g/hL
Punch-down daily in large tanks – want to extract early tannins, with less extraction towards end of fermentation
Aging in barrels up to 18 months; the Montus XL is aged in 400-L barrels up to 3 years; racking 3 to 4 times in the first year. Keep lees in barrel during racking to help soften the tannins
Gravity used as much as possible to avoid handling fruit/must
Wines are 100% Tannat only when the harvest is excellent; otherwise, blending with Merlot (preferred) or occasionally other varieties
5 to 10% American oak used – preferred for flavor, not a cost issue; balance French oak; they buy 1000 barrels/year
Export markets are Japan, Quebec, USA, and other European countries

First two wines were whites, made from Petit Courbu. The wines were similar to Semillon; the first without oak, the second aged in oak. We then tasted 6 different Tannats. The 4th was a 2000 Bouscasse, 100% Tannat with pronounced Brettanomyces character. Frabrice indicated that this was the “real” Tannat character. The last three wines were Petit Mansengs – all very nice, but particularly the first – a late-harvest from 2000 vintage - lots of pineapple.

Again, the role of different terroir was evident in the winemaker’s discussion
The owners had evidence that higher density vine planting translated to higher quality wines; however, the cause and effect basis was not readily apparent
The principal lesson here was the diversity of style possible with Tannat grapes. As young wines, most were tannic, but the acidity was generally within balance. The 6th (La Tyre) and 7th (“XL”) Tannats that we tasted were very nice wines, the latter being a 1995 with soft tannins. The La Tyre (the parcel, as in grapes selected from a particular vineyard parcel) fruit we were told came from a parcel that was warmer than other vineyard sites. The merit of blending with an aromatic variety such as Merlot was evident, although 50% Merlot eclipsed the underlying Tannat character, as in “Les Menhirs” 2001 vintage that we tasted
Here, as in Bordeaux, in Jurançon, and in Minervois, we see the winegrowers seeking to retain and exploit a regional typicity/identity with their wines. The only place where this goal was coming under question was in Beaujolais, where AOC regulations permit only Gamay. There was interest in other varieties in Beaujolais, even if wines were vin de pays, simply because the Beaujolais AOC wines were not commanding enough money to make them profitable.

We started off in the vineyards. There are two main vineyards for this Château with very different terroir. The same clones are planted in each vineyard but the soil and the slope of the land is very different. One vineyard has slopes with small rocks from the river (Montus) the other (Bouscasse) has more clay. The Montus vineyard is one of the most famous in Madiran because it makes wine that is easy to drink. Boucasse is stronger and needs 10-15 years of age. They plant approximately 8,000 plants/ha with narrow rows. Original plantings were 4,500 plants/ha. They want less vigor so they plant with higher density and also drop fruit in the summer (3-4 clusters per vine is desired). The training system was VSP. The weight of the grape is different each year. They try to take a portion of the cluster when they drop to reduce the size of the cluster. This year the grapes were particularly large so they took berries off of the cluster, reducing it to approximately 4 kilograms per plant, with each cluster weighing approximately a kilogram. The high density planting functions via competitive inhibition to reduce the crop by one-half. With the high-density plantings he does feel that they are seeing a reduction in vigor. The rootstocks they use are 101-14, Riparia, and 3309.

The grapes ripen to very high sugars with an average of 14% potential alcohol (last year they reached 16% potential alcohol). They evaluate maturity with tasting all parts of the fruit. Phenolic maturity analysis is performed, but he stated that it was most important to also determine this maturity by tasting. They do an alcoholic maceration of the skin to evaluate the skin maturity and its development. They like to wait the longest time possible.

They hedge 3 times per year. It rains a lot in spring and often in July. They leaf pull on both sides, and find that the best direction for them is south/southwest. One row is grass, and one is tilled to decrease soil compaction and increase the microbial life. The training is VSP with a large canopy and a low cordon. They cane prune, not cordon prune, because they find it difficult to find a crew that will cordon prune appropriately. This year they had a harvest of 29 hL/ha (2 tons/acre), with their average being 40hL/ha (3 tons/acre). Original plantings were Fer Servadau, but it was not regarded as a good grape for the region (light wines with bad tannins); so they grafted with Tannat. The best blend for Tannat, as far as he was concerned, was Merlot. They have a hard time maturing the Cabernet varieties that they grow. Cabernet Franc almost never reaches a maturity level they are happy with, and the Cabernet Sauvignon only does in very good vintages. The best grape to ripen for them is obviously Tannat. They do like to see a little bit of shriveling as it increases the Brix level, but too much shriveling can result in too much alcohol and bad tastes. The acidity is high in the vineyard (TA 6-7); so they have problems with malolactic fermentation. They do not find that the acidity level causes any problems with the balance of the wine.

When asked about microoxygenation he stated that the criteria of good tannins are in the fruit. It is hard to change the tannin profile with micro-ox. They find that wines that are 2-3 years old are already too old, and they are all the same. [Editor’s note: They believe it reduces the impact of terroir, a belief not shared by all.]

Early vinification of Tannat in wood is very important. The punch down process is a little easier because of the shape of the wood tank. They punch down using an automated punch down machine one or two times a day on average, though at the beginning of fermentation they punch down 3 times per day. At the end of fermentation, when the alcohol levels are higher they punch down much less frequently. They only began the rigorous punching down in 1994. They are interested in using the punch down to impact the quality and the quantity of the tannins.

They blend at the end of aging before bottling. They age their second wine for one year in barrels. Montus Prestige and the first labels stay in the barrel for 18 months. In 2001 they left all of the wines in the barrel longer because the vintage was very concentrated and astute. The 2002 vintage will not be in the barrel as long because it was such a poor year. The first label wines are in 100% new oak, the second label is in 50% new oak and the Bouscasse is in 20% new oak. They have a wine called Montus Excel which is in barrel for 3 years (400L), and consists of 100% Tannat.

They believe extraction is the most important part of vinification. Another technique that they use to help produce rounder sweeter tannins is maceration before fermentation (cold soak) for 10 days. They stop any natural fermentation by dropping the temperature to 7-8°C. This is done in tanks with temperature controlled heat exchangers. They punch down frequently during this time (2-3 times/day), using gas blankets to decrease available oxygen. They believe available oxygen will decrease fruit intensity. They add SO₂ at 10 g/HL to protect against bacteria, yeast and oxidation. [Editor’s note: this is determined based on the extractable anthocyanin concentration.]

The area where the fruit came in for sorting, crushing and destemming was quite impressive. Entirely made of concrete, the room seemed to exude its functional nature. After the grapes have been sorted and crushed and then sorted again they are pumped directly into tanks via a fixed pipe system. They have a tank for every parcel in the vineyard, so they us a lot of different tanks as well as barrels. They use 30 different coopers, most of which were French. He stated that East European wood was not good for the tannin structure of the Tannat. Château Montus purchases 1,000 new barrels each year with a turnover rate of three years. Once the fermentation has reached completion, they use the free run wine not the press run wine to fill the barrels. It was interesting to note that they had a very large filter, which was used to filter the pressed wine to be used in the second and third labels.

Malolactic fermentation is done in the barrel, and they rack two times during aging (March and June/July). The most important rack is at the end of the summer. After bottling they do not hold the wines before they release.

After this thorough tasting we continued on to Château D’Aydie for a fantastic luncheon feast with wines from many other producers from the area. We started out the afternoon in the cellar and then had a many course lunch along with winemakers from the region. We even were able to taste a port made from Tannat.