Now here’s an interesting wine from the Gers department in the South-West of France, the so-called home of the legendary musketeer, D’Artagnan! Le Gers is beautiful, with Roman roads, walled villages and towns and a good, if slightly heavy, local gastronomy. Their confit de canard and Cassoulet of white beans can be had right in the middle of a hot August. Luckily, there are local wines too that are up to the job of degreasing palet, and this Pellehaut is one of them.
Again, we got it in that Caviste Contemporain on rue Saint Honoré, which I have just learned via the Pellehaut website is in fact called Lovin’. Not a great name for a wine shop, a clumsy play on English and French (Love-Vin) by someone who is evidently far better at wine than at poetry. The shop stocks two Pellehaut, one called Family Reserve, which I tried and at nearly 20 euros is in fact more expensive than the other Pellehaut for around 10 euros or less.
The Family Reserve 2005 was big and steady, plenty of chewy earthy flavours, with just enough fruit from the 10% Merlot and 90% Tannat, which is a grape I didn’t know by name, but which is tannic (as the name suggests) and is common in Madiran wines. It gives the wine balance and elegance; the cheaper Pellehaut that I have not tried comes with 70% Tannat and 30% Merlot. My guess is the Tannat provides the body and velvety elegance. One great thing about this wine is the bottle: big, very heavy, with a gently broader top end. This weightiness may well bump up its export price! The shape also makes drinking, say, half a bottle a little harder to measure and you may end up drinking far more than you think! At 13.5%, prepare for an afternoon snooze.
When I first visited le Gers in 1982 I was with some student friends in search of grapepicking. Though we loved the region, we never found any there, partly because we spend our nights out and our days in bed, and partly because the countryside did not seem at all rich in vineyard landscapes. We simply concluded we had come to the wrong place and decided to sow some wild oats instead. We were ignorant of course, for this is the Côtes de Gascogne after all. Still, I wonder if Pellehaut was quite as dynamic then as it seems now. Well worth the visit to Lovin’ or any of the stockists, which are listed on the Pellehaut website.
©RJ Doyle 2 December 2007
