Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/348953
{ SOMMjournal.com } 45 and are followed by moderate, damp springs, hot summers and mild autumns with wide diurnal temperature swings. As with most wine regions, the grapes grown and the wines made are a combination of traditional heritage and current market conditions. The primary red grape is Tannat, which is cur - rently getting much New World attention in Uruguay, and Pinenc, variously known as Fer Servadou and Braucol and widely grown throughout the South West. Other primary varieties are Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc (which are not known here as Bordeaux varieties!). The primary whites are also grapes well- known in the South West, but less so elsewhere. They include Gros Manseng, Petit Manseng, Petit Courbu and Arrufiac. During a visit to the conservatoire, Oliver Bourdet-Pees, now Managing Director for Plaimont, explained there are practical aspects of the company's grape studies. "I have been looking at red varieties that give more aromas at lower levels of alcohol," he said. One such grape is Pédebernade, a local Pyrenean grape found in Plaimont's historical landmark plot that has shown these high aromas/low alcohol properties during micro-vinification tri - als. "Tannat is the best grape for the terroir right now," Bourdet- Pees says, "but I'm not saying that something else couldn't be dominant in the future." Even with the presence of Plaimont winemaking and mar - keting activities, Saint Mont is still a relatively small part of the constellation of 29 regions that make up the South West (alternatively spelled Southwest and South-West). Saint Mont and 16 others are AOPs, including Cahors, Fronton, Gaillac, Irouléguy, Jurançon and Madiran, while 12 are IGPs (Indication Géographique Protégée); only 12 of the AOPs and six IGPs are represented in the U.S. market. "Saint Mont's best wines are from Tannat, and Tannat is one of my favorite wines," says Master Sommelier Fred Dexheimer, who has served as U.S. spokesperson for the wines of South West France, spending considerable time traveling and tasting in the region. "Saint Mont wines hold people's attention." Finding Saint Mont's Treasures Plaimont total sales in the United States last year were a modest 50,000 bottles, but it is restructuring its marketing partnerships and sees greater growth during the current year. Its Saint Mont brands in the U.S. (the importer of record is in transition at press time) include Château de Sabazan, Beret Noir and Les Bastions, all red blends. During my visit to Saint Mont, Dubosc handed me a different bottle of wine sealed in wax with no paper label but only a wired- on wooden tag stamped "Le Faîte." He explained it was a com - memorative bottling in recognition of the days when a family's best bottles of Saint Mont (or those being saved for weddings and other special occasions to be celebrated years later) were buried in the clay soil for cool—and safe—storage. Behind every good wine region is at least one good story, and Saint Mont cer - tainly has a great one of its once-buried wine treasures now being rediscovered. Adour Adour A d ou r A rr o s 250 250 250 250 500 500 500 500 1000 1000 500 500 500 500 Saint Mont Gaeune Samadet Grenade-sur-l'Adour Aire-sur-l'Adour Riscle Aignan Vic-Fezensac Termes- d'Armagnac Le Houga Garlin Aurensan Maubourguet Nogaro Plaisance Beaumarchés Marciac G E R S L A N D E S P Y R É N É E S - A T L A N T I Q U E S H A U T E S - P Y R É N É E S A65 D935 D946 D935 D931 D931 N124 D30 D30 D6 D824 A65 A65 D2 D3 SAINT MONT Plaimont Conservatoire Ampélographique vineyard (location approx.) TURSAN MADIRAN ET PACHERENC DU VIC-BILH CÔTES DE GASCOGNE Local winery Place of interest Contours (heights in feet) I G P AOC 0 0 5 10 kilometers 5 10 miles 1000 SAINT MONT Map data © Cosmographics Ltd. UK., 2014. CÔTES DE GASCOGNE TURSAN One of the unidentified grape varieties growing in Plaimont's Conservatoire Ampélographique. PHOTO: ROGER MORRIS