We continue our celebration of Washington wine month this Saturday by pouring a great line up of unique wines from Southwest France. Stop by and try these wines from Gaillac, Cahors, and Gascony. They are great and undiscovered values with an array of bold and intriguing flavors.

2011 Philemon Gaillac Blanc Perlé $13
60% Loin de L’Oeil, 20% Muscadelle and 20% Sauvignon Blanc. Organic
The Vieules family has had a vineyard in Villeneuve since 1804 where they grow wheat, sunflowers and grapes. A good proportion of their vines are more than fifty years old and are goblet pruned keeping yields exceedingly low. The Perlé’s freshness in is achieved by preserving some of the natural CO2 that occurs during the vinification. It has concentrated flavors of mineral and citrus.
 
2011 Philemon Gaillac Croix de Azul $13
Fer Servadou Braucol
The Croix d’Azal is produced entirely from Braucol, the name used in Gaillac for the Fer Servadou grape. It is a wonderful expression with all of its typical spiciness and woodsy floral aromas. The word “braucol” in girondin patois signifies taureau, the bull. The Croix d’Azal is no raging bull but one who lives peacefully in the pasture content to smell the flowers.
 
2010 Château Chabiran Bordeaux Supérieur $14
90% Merlot and 10% Cabernet Sauvignon.
Not exactly from the southwest (but we had to throw it in) Château Chabiran lies on a high plateau just outside of Fronsac with soils of a local blue clay and red gravel. The unusually high density of plants encourages low yields and maximum extraction of the soil’s minerals. The wine is fermented in both stainless steel and cement tanks with a long maceration and aged partially in barrel and partially in tank. The wine is dense and leathery with layers of tannins.
 
2011 Mas del Périé Cahors, Les Escures $18
80% Auserrois, (Malbec), 20% Merlot
Cahors lays an equal distance from the Atlantic Ocean, the Mediterranean and the Pyrenees. Mas del Perié has been in the Jouves family for four generations. The domaine is located in Trespoux-Rassiels, a small village located along the chalky plateau known as Quercy Blanc. The average age of the vines is 35 years and Fabien who recently graduated from enology school is taking the vineyard toward organic certification. A minerally and leathery Malbec.
 
2009 Laffite-Teston Madiran Reflets du Terroir $18
70% Tannat, 15% Cabernet Franc, 15% Cabernet Sauvignon
Madiran is situated among the northern foothills of the Pyrenées in the heart of Gascony. Due to its proximity to the Atlantic Ocean the climate is somewhat humid with moderate temperatures that benefit from the prevailing south winds that bring warm dry air in the summer and fall. A family domain where the wine was formerly sold in bulk, they began estate bottling in 1975. The vineyards are on chalky clay soil. The average vine age is 40 years . For the Reflet du Terroir the juice stays in contact with the must for 20 days during which time the tanks are drained twice with the juice being returned on top of the cap.. It is then aged in 1 and 2 year old barrels for 12 months. The wine is big dense and tannic.