Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/348953
44 { THE SOMM JOURNAL } AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2014 beneath a neatly trimmed mustache in the manner of the late actor David Niven. "Plaimont makes more than 90 percent of the wine in Saint Mont," the ebullient Dubosc explained, "and is the only exporter from the region." Now retired as head of Plaimont but still an ambassadorial presence, Dubosc is fanatic about ampelography—the study of grape vines—and fervently believes that Saint Mont, with its dozens of rare and old vines, is at the center of it. According to Dubosc, genetic testing has traced two primary strains of vinifera in France— one a Muscat family and one a Sauvignon branch—as having originated in the Middle East, while the Saint Mont section of the Adour River Valley gave birth of the precursors to most of today's "Bordeaux" varieties, including Tannat and the Mansengs. Later we tasted the whites and reds of the appellation. In general, the whites had pleasant green-fruit flavors, a light chalk - iness and good acidity, while the reds had a range of cherry flavors from crisp to plummy with mostly moderate tannins. The day after meeting Dubosc, Eric Fitan, head of the Saint Mont appellation, led us on a tour of Plaimont's Conservatoire Ampélograhique in Pouydraquin, a living library of around 60 vines. "About half are grape varieties used to make wine in the South West and half rediscovered vines," Fitan explained, many of which are still unnamed. Then we moved on to a small vineyard of 150-year-old pre-phylloxera vines at Serragachies, also now owned by Plaimont and recently recognized as one of France's coveted historic landmarks. All this is testimony to the passion for both grape history and grape growing at Saint Mont. Altogether, there are about 200 growers in the region, some of them historic châteaux who mostly either sell grapes to the Plaimont cooperative or make wine in conjunction with it. All told, the region produces about 50,000 hectoliters of wine, with Plaimont responsible for 98 per cent of that production. (This excludes Plaimont's more recent ventures into wine production in other regions: Madiran, Pacherenc de Vic-Bilh, the Côtes de Gascogne and smaller appellations). Geography & Grapes The soils of Saint Mont fall into three classifications: the gravelly, reddish, sandy soil around the town of Aignan, clay and limestone in the Plaisance region and the pebbly, denser clay soils of Saint Mont itself. The hilly landscape was formed at about the same time that the Pyrenees were being born, in the Tertiary Period that began 66 million years ago. The Adour Valley weather is primarily dominated by the pres - ence of the Atlantic Ocean, yet it is far enough inland to have some aspects of a continental climate. Winters are typically wet PHOTO: ROGER MORRIS PHOTO: ROGER MORRIS Eric Fitan heads the Saint Mont appellation. A handful of Saint Mont soil.