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03/21/2001 Archived Entry: "Wine Buy: Madiran"

Madiran is one of those legendary big red wines of southwest France. It comes from the Hautes-Pyrénées, just south of Gascony, on the Spanish border, and it is big in bouquet, big in color, big in flavor, and very big in tannin.

Tannin is that constituent of red wine that comes from the skins, seeds, and stems. It becomes part of the wine through fermentation. Tannin is astringent, which is why wines high in tannin make your mouth feel puckery, especially on the cheeks. Tannin helps wine age – it is said to give it “structure” –but it may make a wine seem unpleasantly harsh when it is young. Indeed, tannin is the reason many novice wine drinkers don’t like red wine, and the reason so many do love Merlot, a red that is famously “soft,” or lacking in tannin.

Domaine Capmartin Madiran 1998, $10.99, is, indeed, a highly tannic wine, but, as Food Talk Sommelier Carol Berman says, unlike many Madirans, with all its other bigness, it has the reward of big fruit flavors. If you want to diminish the tannic quality of this Madiran, aerate the wine by pouring it into a decanter several hours before serving. At the very least, pour out a couple of glasses and let them and the wine left in the bottle breathe for a couple of hours.

As the back label will explain, the wine is 70 percent from the Tannat grape, 15 percent from Cabernet Sauvignon, and 15 percent from Cabernet Franc grapes. With all its flavor and tannin, Madiran is most definitely a wine to be enjoyed with food. Big food. A steak or roast duck would be just fine, but save it for more complex things like a beef stew, or if and when you ever make a cassoulet. It’s goes well with cheese, too, especially sharp cheeses.

If your local wine merchant does not have this wine -– and it is likely he/she does not -- it is imported by Charles Neal Selections and, with that information, can be ordered for you.