Madiran, Château d'Aydie 2017

With the Pyrenees as its backdrop, Château d’Aydie nestles in the hillside of the tiny commune of Aydie, just a few kilometres west of the village of Madiran in southwest France. This town has had its own AC since 1948, but the Laplace family has been making its mark on Madiran wines for three generations, since Frédéric Laplace breathed life into the family vineyards in 1927.

The family has earned worldwide acclaim for its mastery of tannat – Madiran’s signature grape variety, which now must constitute a minimum of 50% of the blend, and the grape responsible for the AC’s famous dark, deep, elegant powerhouse reds – to the extent that renowned critics such as Robert Parker have claimed they are one of the best producers of red wines in southwest France.

Frédéric’s son, Pierre Laplace, took the helm in the 1950s, and it was he who replanted many of the vineyards and modernised winery practices. Like their father, Pierre’s children (sons François, Jean-Luc and Bernard, and daughter Marie) followed in their father’s footsteps, joining the team in the 1970s. It was this third generation that first experimented with planting tannat on different soil types, giving the château a head-start on many neighbouring properties, and establishing that clay-limestone soils worked best.

Today, the property has 58 hectares under vine: 49 of which are under Madiran AC, and the remaining nine of which are part of the neighbouring white wine appellation, Pacherenc du Vic-Bihl. Château d’Aydie vineyards possess a richly diverse array of soil types, from gravel on the hills – providing good drainage, and adding a roundness to the wines – to the sandy, moisture-retaining boulbènes soil on the lower lands, which gives flexible, fruity wines. The moderating influence of the Atlantic means the climate is also ideal for vine growth.

Within the Madiran vineyards, tannat is the star, along with cabernet franc and cabernet sauvignon, whereas in the white vineyards it is ugni blanc, petit manseng, gros manseng and ugni blanc that take centre stage.

In the winery, Château d’Aydie knows it needs to soften the highly tannic tannat grape, and has become proficient at doing so: the team employs uses both oak-ageing and micro-oxygenation (introducing small, controlled levels of oxygen to the wine) to create a rounder, more approachable wine that both suits modern tastes and shows the tannat grape at its sophisticated best.

The whites are also aged in oak after a low-temperature maceration that retains their aromas and keeps them deliciously fresh.

Maydie Tannat, the family’s fortified wine, is hugely popular with members, and is a festive treat with blue cheese or Christmas pudding. The family have been experimenting with wines like this since 1941, and it has now been perfected into a delicious, decadent blend.