2014 Château Bouscassé Madiran

Staff Reviews

KM

Keith Mabry

Keith Mabry

K&L Buyer

Proprietor Alain Brumont, the revolutionary force of Madiran, is back with one of his best new wines yet! Madiran is best known for producing wines with jaw-breaking structure but Brumont perfected the accessibility of the Tannat grape through his strict selection of fruit and winemaking practices. His original family propery - Chateau Bouscasse is still one of the best examples from the region and has all the satisfying hallmark characteristics. Flavors of melted licorice, menthol, black currants, roasted plums and cocoa husks saturate the pallet but the tannins, while present, add a supple and fulfilling mouthfeel that gives so much body to this wine. That essential velvety structure of the wine usually requires years of bottle age to obtain but Brumont's abilities put this wine in reach of near-term consumption. Another amazing follow-up to the past vintages, 2010 and 2012. Cellaring is an option but as we approach the cooler seasons, this would make quite the foil for decadently rich braises and stews.

JM

John Majeski

John Majeski

How do you measure depth? In an analogy, the Russians were once faced with the reality that the US was going to beat them to the moon, so they decided to focus their efforts on beating us to the center of the Earth, resulting in something called the Kola Superdeep Borehole, which went some 7.5 miles deep through dense layers of near molten rock. Measuring depth in a wine doesn't take quite that much effort, as the otherworldly Tannat-driven wines of Madiran master Alain Brumont are as highly polished and elemental as that deep bore drill bit, but imbued with a complex profusion of fragrant black fruits, bittersweet chocolate, dried flowers, spice and super-refined tannins. And priced at under twenty dollars, you don't have to dig deep to enjoy a bottle!

Notes

Alain Brumont is one of the stars of Madiran. In 1979 he inherited his father's estate, Chateau Bouscasse. With little experience in the wine industry, he quickly educated himself and began transforming the landscape of Madiran. Now one of the largest and most important producers in the region, he has four working properties each distinctive in its own right. Bouscasse represents the most open and polished wine from Alain's holdings. The vines are planted on hillsides with yellow and white clay layered over fissured limestone. Bouscasse is meant to reflect the history of the region, made in the style of the 18th century heyday of Madiran. The wine is a blend of Tannat, Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc from vines ranging from 20 to 100 years old. The wine is matured in barrels with 30 to 50% new oak depending on vintage. Full of lush black cherry and blackberry fruit and loads of graphite minerality, you'll feel the awesome power of Madiran and taste the history of the region. (Keith Mabry, K&L French Regional Buyer)