Wine of the Week! 04/22/24

Domaine Labranche Laffont TAN NAT

Normally $24.99 / Now on Sale for $17.96
100% Tannat (Madiran AOC)

In southwest France’s Gascony region, you’ll find Madiran, a village surrounded by rolling hills that give way to the mountains of the Pyrénées in the south. It’s also a wine region. As you can imagine (due to the region’s location), winemaking has taken place there since Gallo-Roman times. Today, it’s known for its robust red wines made chiefly from the tannat grape.

Tannat is famously tannic and acidic, so part of the challenge for Madiran winemakers has been to find ways to tame the grape’s wildness. One often blends it with a little Cabernet Franc and even Cabernet Sauvignon. Barrel-aging, of course, is a common tactic.

This area is where Christine Dupuy found herself in 1992 or ‘93, straight out of oenology school, Madiran’s youngest winemaker, in charge of her longtime family vineyard after her father’s sudden death. Those first years, neighboring winemakers graciously helped her out until she got on her feet. Now, Dupuy has more than tripled her number of hectares, which she dry farms organically. In her winemaking, she ferments with native yeasts and uses very little sulfur.

The tannat for this wine came from a parcel that Dupuy purchased in 2019, its vines having been planted in the late ‘90s. She subjects the organic grapes to a very short maceration period, severely curtailing those famous tannins. After fermentation and aging in concrete, she bottles the wine unfined, unfiltered, and with no sulfur or yeast additions.

What she gets is a tannat unconventionally restrained in its tannins, giving way to a stylish yacht of black fruit floating on a small river of acidity to provide direction. Usually — because of its traditional robustness — we would suggest decanting a Madiran tannat before drinking, but Dupuy’s TAN NAT is so smooth, you may choose … to not. :D