Lou Reed & A Wine From the 'Sud Ouest'
The 'Wild Side' of French wines, my first Fer Servadou, and a brief mention of geographical determinism.
Domaine du Cros Marcillac ‘Lo Sang del Pais’
Varieties: Mansois (local version of Fer Servadou)
Region: Marcillac, Aveyron, France
Producer: Domaine du Cros / Philippe Teulier
Costs: $18-$25
Missive: Take A Walk On The Wild Side With Fer Servadou
Notes: This is a wild freaking wine. ‘Lo Sang del Pais’ translates to ‘the blood of the countryside’. I just wanted to get that out of the way because it should give you an idea going forward. This is not your average, common, everyday wine. Not in a price point sense, but almost every other one. This is a wine that I would never have gone out of my way to get, and one I just knew nothing about. So here we are. ‘Lo Sang del Pais’ has about the wildest, ‘brambliest’ blackberry and raspberry thing going on. You all know what I am talking about - it’s like when you were a kid walking around in the woods, and you bump up against a blackberry bush. You get the fruit but you also get the plant and the thorny nature of it as well.
I just love that this wine is a new variety to me, from a lesser known place in France, with a terroir that is so site-specific. Imagine these very steep hillsides, which over time water has carved natural plots into, and that’s before you even get into the soil. This is all new to me as well folks, so stay with me here. But what we have in this region of southwest France are these things called rougiers. This region, Aveyron, in southwest France is famous for two things: wine and iron ore extraction. However, it’s kind of like killing two birds with one stone. The red-clay soil… with limestone and iron… brings this intense spice and flint note to it. This wine feels like it just has a BUZZ to it. The acidity and tannins are so in sync with one another. To be fair, the first sip, after a freshly pulled cork, was a little intense on the acidity. I let it mellow out for about ten more minutes and it was ready to rumble. But really, this wine lends itself to being BY itself, or with food. This should enter the summer rotation of any wine lover. Chill it down, fire up the grill, and practice your wrist motion for the burger flipping.
It really is a wine of certain contradictions. It’s wild, but wrapped up nicely. The fruit is there, but it’s almost in sync if not overshadowed by the intense ‘spikeiness’ and flinty, iron portion. It feels fresh and acidic, but it’s also a little plump and lingers longer than you would expect. I say all of this to entice you, about a wine that is so affordable, especially when you add in all of these various components. It is funny how certain things in the wine world work. Just imagine this: take a rare, native grape variety. Then you throw in steep, hillside terraced vineyards. Complex soil type that really adds something to the wine, which is not always the case. If you were to say that a wine had all that, you may assume it would be above $50. You can find this thing from Domaine du Cros for roughly $20. So what is it about this wine? Why is it referred to, in a positive way, as ‘the blood of the countryside’? The Southwest region of France folks. The ‘Sud Ouest’. Sort of the ugly duckling of France, which is now seeing a revival, and can always deliver on price points and food pairings.
This area is the least populated portion of France. It’s rural, it’s wild. Maybe it’s sort of like Umbria, if Bordeaux were Tuscany. Meaning that there is another region real close to it that overshadows the wines in terms of history and ‘prestige’. But, that does not mean that there is not a history here. Something new to explore. For example, this grape variety. What the heck is Mansois? Or Fer Servadou? And why does no one give a clear indication as to what it is called. It seems like Fer Servadou originated in the Basque region of Spain, and made its way across the Pyrenees and into parts of Southwest France. Fer, coming from the Greek ferrus, which means ‘wild’. So you can imagine me now, in my basement, connecting all the red strings together on a cork board. A picture of a grape here, zoomed in picture of Southwestern France there, and a big page question mark in the middle with the word ‘BASQUE’ below it. And here we have the true beauty of wine. I woke up knowing it was going to be a good day. Trade show season is here, and I had the chance to go to a warehouse tasting of some incredible wines. But I never expected that at the end of the day I would go down a new rabbit hole. One related to an often overlooked area that most people give little attention to. I had never had a wine made from the variety Mansois, nor from the village of Marcillac. Did you know that it was kind of organized that way? Maybe that’s not phrased the proper way. But essentially, Bordeaux taxed the heck out of their southern neighbors. I’m such a victim of it myself, even as a huge student of history, but rarely do we think of how different life was even one hundred years ago. Back in the 13th and 14th centuries, societies depended so much more on marine travel and shipping. Obviously we rely on marine travel now, but none of us think about that huge cargo freighter ship when we order something from Amazon. Anyways, because of that fact, you have a place like Bordeaux that monopolizes their location on the Atlantic, and does not allow wines from other areas (historically) to be shipped out. When we think of wines with such notable history, of course Bordeaux comes to mind. Less so ‘Sud Ouest’. The southern neighbors of Bordeaux just drew the short end of the stick. But do not fret, for I am not a TOTAL believer in geographical determinism. And wow, what impeccable timing, because I am currently reading The Revenge of Geography by Robert Kaplan. So let’s tie this up nicely now folks:
Sometimes, regions draw the short end of the stick. Be it geography, certain historical instances, or cultural biases. Do not let that step you from exploring more wines from the Southwest of France. Let this wine from Domaine du Cros be your entry into the ‘Sud Ouest’. The next time you are going to your wine shop, skip the Bordeaux and grab a wine from Marcillac. Or Cahors. Or ask if they can get a wine from the grape variety Mansois. If you’re looking for a sweet wine, skip the Sauternes and go for a Jurancon. Try a wine from the ‘Sud Ouest’ and take a walk on the wild side. And with that, I hit play on Spotify. Lou Reed comes on, ‘Walk On the Wild Side’ fades in, and I fade out. Till next time folks!