Madiran

A blend of Tannat, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon and Fer Servadou, aged in vats and oak for 24 months.

Owner Patrick Ducournau has 18 ha of vines (set to rise to 26 ha by 2004), and produces two different Madiran wines: Domaine Mouréou and Chapelle Lenclos. He's perhaps more famous, though, for his role in developing the technique of micro-oxygenation, by which red wines in tank are exposed to a steady but very fine stream of oxygen bubbles. There's some controversy about what this achieves: some people claim it softens tannins, but other evidence seems to indicate that it develops structure in young tank-matured reds. Either way, it seems to make wines that are unapproachable in their youth -- like many Madirans -- ready to drink a bit sooner, and it has been widely adopted in the south west. 2.5 ha of his estate are given over to white grapes from which he produces a white Pacherenc, but I didn't try this here.

Chapelle Lenclos/Domaine Mouréou are part of a group of southwestern producers called Accents & Terroirs (contact@accents-terroirs.com) who have banded together to form a united marketing front.

--- wineanorak.com