1989 Château Bouscassé, Vieilles Vignes,
Madiran, Alain Brumont
1989 Château Montus, Cuvée Prestige,
Madiran, Alain Brumont
Recently we partnered a pair of Alain Brumont's top 1989 wines with a poached chicken. Both of these wines have a very high percentage of Tannat – at least 100% although not allowed under the rules of the appellation even though Tannat has a long tradition as a local grape variety.
The four of us were agreed that both 1989s were lovely wines but we were equally split over which of the two we preferred. Two of us went for the soft complexity of the Montus with its attractively textured structure and tannins, while the other two preferred the more tannic and 'rustic' Bouscassé as a more authentic representation of Madiran. They felt the more 'sophisticated and smoother' Montus could have come from elsewhere, whereas the Bouscassé was more representative of the local terroir and a more representative example of Madiran.
3 comments:
It looks like you discovered Brumont's wines long before we did. We visited the property 2 years ago, having discovered it by accident the night before when we had dinner at a restaurant nearby. We bought several bottles at the winery, and have been able to find some of them here, mostly on-line and in Quebec. While we still have a bottle of Montus that we brought home, we've since been buying the Bouscasse, and have had bottles of the 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2013. It sounds like we can hold onto them for as long as we like, although I have my doubts we weill keep them for too many years. They're just so good now.
Hi Bob. Yes I first visited Alain Brumont in 1989 or possibly 1990 and was very impressed both by the wines and Alain, himself. Subsequently I visited his estate on several other occasions but haven't been there for some long time now.
At least 100% tannat - I like the formula.
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