{"product_id":"k73","title":"Brumont Bouscasse Madiran 2018","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan data-newtext-seq=\"2\" class=\"_animating_6ta1u_10\"\u003eRobert \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan data-newtext-seq=\"25\" class=\"_animating_6ta1u_10\"\u003eParker, Steven \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan data-newtext-seq=\"40\" class=\"_animating_6ta1u_10\"\u003eSpurrier, Bettane \u0026amp; \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan data-newtext-seq=\"60\" class=\"_animating_6ta1u_10\"\u003eDesseauve and Andrew \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan data-newtext-seq=\"81\" class=\"_animating_6ta1u_10\"\u003eJefford all agree: \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan data-newtext-seq=\"100\" class=\"_animating_6ta1u_10\"\u003eChâteau Bouscassé belongs in \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan data-newtext-seq=\"129\" class=\"_animating_6ta1u_10\"\u003ethe company of the \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan data-newtext-seq=\"148\" class=\"_animating_6ta1u_10\"\u003egreatest wines in the \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan data-newtext-seq=\"170\" class=\"_animating_6ta1u_10\"\u003eworld. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\"\u003eIf I told you that a small,\u003cem\u003e \u003c\/em\u003erecondite estate in the southwest of France — an appellation most Americans couldn't find on a map — produced wines that compete with Château Latour, Petrus, Vega Sicilia and Haut-Brion, you would reasonably conclude that I had been drinking too much of my own inventory and should perhaps be driven home.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\"\u003eI understand that reaction. I would have had it myself, before I tasted the wine.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\"\u003eBut allow me to present the following evidence, drawn from some of the most distinguished palates in the wide world of wine:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\"\u003e\u003cem\u003e\"These are unreal wines that are purely made, remarkably rich and so completely promising that they cannot be ignored.\"\u003c\/em\u003e — Robert Parker\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\"\u003e\u003cem\u003e\"The wines of Alain Brumont are at the same level as Château Latour and the greatest wines in the world. Alain Brumont is, in the world of wines, a bullfighter.\"\u003c\/em\u003e — Steven Spurrier\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\"\u003e\u003cem\u003e\"Unbelievable terroirs... monumental wines. The Petrus of the South West. Equal in standing to Vega Sicilia-Pingus.\"\u003c\/em\u003e — Bettane \u0026amp; Desseauve\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\"\u003e\u003cem\u003e\"The wines of Château Montus and Château Bouscassé are classified among the ten icons of Southern France, next to Ausone, Cheval Blanc, Petrus, Haut-Brion, Lafite-Rothschild, Latour, Margaux, Mouton Rothschild and Yquem.\"\u003c\/em\u003e — Andrew Jefford, The New France\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\"\u003eParker. Spurrier. Bettane \u0026amp; Desseauve. Andrew Jefford. Collectively, that is not a farrago of meretricious wine-trade gasconade. That is the most distinguished critical consensus I have ever assembled in a single email about a wine that costs less than dinner for two at a decent restaurant.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\"\u003eSo who is this man?\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\"\u003eAlain Brumont is the winemaker and owner of Château Bouscassé in Madiran — a wine region in the foothills of the Pyrenees that, three centuries ago, was producing some of France's most celebrated red wines. Madiran's heyday came long before Bordeaux's famous classification of 1855, when these deep, dark, intensely structured wines made from Tannat, Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc were drunk at the tables of kings and pilgrims alike on the road to Santiago de Compostela.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\"\u003eThen the Bordelais merchants got involved. Once Madiran began seriously competing with Bordeaux, the supply chain was quietly choked in favor of the more commercially powerful north. A once-noble wine region was effectively silenced — its grapes pulled, its traditions abandoned, its terroirs forgotten.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\"\u003eUntil Alain Brumont came home.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\"\u003eBrumont returned to Madiran in 1979 with fifty years of conviction and not much else, determined to resurrect what the Bordelais had buried. He replanted the old clay-limestone hillsides. He championed Tannat — the thick-skinned, massively structured native grape that most producers had abandoned as uncommerciably austere. He farmed vines that are now a century old, some older still. And he made, vintage after vintage, wines of a depth and intensity that eventually forced the wine world to pay attention.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\"\u003eThe 2018 Château Bouscassé is the accessible entry point into this world — a blend of Tannat, Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc from those magnificent clay-limestone hillsides, aged three years in a mix of barrels, drinking beautifully right now and built for decades more.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\"\u003eThe nose opens with dense, dark black fruits — plum, blackcurrant, dried raspberry — laced with smoky licorice, cedar, cloves and a meaty, savory depth that recalls aged Pomerol. The palate is firm and powerful, with Tannat's characteristically mouth-coating tannins, yet they are remarkably well-integrated — concentrated without being \u003cem\u003ebumptious\u003c\/em\u003e, structured without being austere. The finish is long, spiced and magnificent, crying out for duck magret, braised short ribs, something from the grill with char and fat and honest flavor.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\"\u003eI have had examples of Bouscassé at 20 years old that were still in what I'd call vigorous middle age. This 2018 is just getting started.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\"\u003eComparing it in the field of Latour and Petrus, one would expect to surrender at least several hundred dollars. The price of this bottle will spark elation!\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Left Bank","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":41978383237353,"sku":"","price":39.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0579\/2805\/7022\/products\/image_b2abe501-7217-45f0-97eb-cc8bc9e4b698.png?v=1632248341","url":"https:\/\/waterfordwine.com\/products\/k73","provider":"Waterford Wine and Spirits","version":"1.0","type":"link"}