Domaine Rotier Les Gravels Gaillac, France 2012 (£11.45, Berry Bros & Rudd) Bounded to the west by the starchy grandees of Bordeaux, and to the southeast by the great engine-room of French wine, the Languedoc-Roussillon, the cluster of disparate, individualistic appellations known collectively as South West France sometimes struggle for attention outside their local communities. But this is fertile territory for anyone looking for something a little different or for wines that always tend to have a food-friendliness and refreshment factor, no matter their colour or style. Made from the very particular local grapes braucol and duras with a dollop of syrah in the Gaillac appellation that straddles the Tarn to the east of Toulouse, Domaine Rotier’s gloriously spicy, crunchy lighter red exemplifies those qualities perfectly, especially with a jar of succulent duck rillettes and a pile of toast.
Château du Cèdre Cahors, France 2013 (from £13.50, The Wine Society; Lea & Sandeman; Wine Library) Perhaps the most famous of the southwestern appellations, Cahors lies to the north of Gaillac in the Lot Valley around the beautiful medieval city from which it takes its name. In its 14th-century heyday, its famously dark, strong “black” wines were more highly prized than those of Bordeaux. Its recent revival owes rather a lot to the Argentinians, who’ve made a speciality of Cahors’ red grape variety, malbec, a style that has been one of the UK wine trade’s biggest hits of recent years. Today’s Cahors malbecs have some of the power of both Argentina and those antique black wines. But they are a little more sinewy, with the best, such as Château de Cèdre’s, offering a floral lilt to leaven the meaty, meat-friendly richness.
Domaine Berthomieu Madiran Haute Tradition 2012 (£11.95, Eton Vintners; Buon Vino; Smiling Grape; Bentleys Wine) The South Americans, specifically the Uruguayans and Argentinians, have also helped raised the profile of the main grape variety of another south-western region, the tannat of Madiran, in the Gascon foothills of the Pyrenees. The variety is aptly named, since the forceful, dramatic red wines it makes always come with a bristly bearhug of tannin. Like Italian nebbiolo (the grape variety of Barbaresco and Barolo), that kind of texture only begins to make sense with food – not least the magret or confit de canard that is a staple in this part of the world. But if, as in Domaine Berthomieu’s example, you also have deliciously fragrant black berry fruit and mineral freshness, it’s a match made in heaven.
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