Pascal Savoret

Madiran

2 hectares

The appellation Madiran is situated among the northern foothills of the Pyrenées in the heart of Gascony. It is a pastoral area which is sparsely populated and often evokes references of “Old France”. The appellation takes its name from the village of Madiran, one of the 37 villages included in the appellation. The AOC Madiran refers only to red wine production whereas white wine produced in the same geographic area uses the AOC of Pacherenc du Vic-Bilh. 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.

 There are 50 independent wine producers in the appellation of Madiran, but Pascal Savoret is the last one in the village of Madiran. Pascal’s small vineyard which slopes steeply to the south has thin and well drained clay soils that range from pebbly to chalky and are rich in manganese. The oldest parts of the vineyard date to 1924 and 1961 with more recent replanting done in 1987.

Cuvée Moutoué Fardet, Madiran

This cuvee is named in honor of Pascal’s grandfather. The 2005 vintage is 98% Tannat and 2% Cabernet Franc. 35hl were harvested from slightly under one hectare of old vines producing less than 350 cases. The vinification was done “à l’ancien”, in an open top wooden vat which houses the press. Fermentation occurred naturally with indigenous yeast, no heating of the must and a minimal use of sulphur. Punching down of the must was done manually once a day for ten days at which point the wine was racked and put into 400 liter barrels to finish the primary fermentation, undergo the malolactic fermentation and mature for five years.

The wine was bottled at the end of 2010 unfiltered and unfined.