Reviews

The Wine Advocate 93/100

The 2019 Château Bouscassé, a blend of 70% Tannat, 25% Cabernet Franc and 5% Cabernet Sauvignon picked at the same time and co-fermented, possesses a perfumed, fresh bouquet of dark wild berries, spices, flowers and mulberries. Medium to full-bodied, polished and fleshy, it’s layered and enveloping with a charming, seamless profile for a Madiran that segues into powdery tannins and a long, mineral finish. It demands some patience. The formidable Alain Brumont, an innovative and visionary producer of exceptional dynamism whose properties of Château Montus and Château Bouscassé became household names for the whole region on the international stage, has now been joined by his stepson, Antoine Veiry. Antoine is a deft and accomplished young winemaker who has amassed a wealth of experience from working in Bordeaux (Château Carmes Haut-Brion), Burgundy (with Maison Joseph Drouhin) and for a number of other estates worldwide. He is now bringing a fresh perspective while remaining steadfastly attached to the estate's heritage—which includes championing the local Tannat grape variety—and preserving but refining his stepfather’s style. From his time in Bordeaux, he picked up the art of preserving a wine's depth and structure while conferring a velvety texture to its tannins, a quality that is all the more welcome when the tannin-rich Tannat grape is concerned. In the vineyards, viticulture has become more precise with the help of horses for plowing; each plot is treated individually in function of its soil type, and the emphasis remains on careful picking of each block at the right time, which extends the harvest period. In the cellar, sulfite additions are now delayed until as late as possible after the conclusion of malolactic fermentation to allow the wines to become more resilient and pure. The exhilarating result is an inspiring range of wines with considerable youthful appeal but also notable aging potential, which speak clearly of their origins without any excess of extraction or new oak to confuse the message. In this ongoing transformation, Vignobles Brumont is embracing change to reinvigorate the estate. While this evolution will certainly make these wines more appealing to contemporary tastes, the changes represent refinement and adaptation rather that revolution. If Veiry can repeat this performance year in and year out, I suspect that Montus and Bouscassé will reemerge as a magnet to draw consumers to the wines of the Southwest in general, and to those produced from the Tannnat grape in particular. It should be obvious that I am enthused by Veiry’s contribution as an agent of change. He is a hard-working and skilled vigneron, one who understands the importance of the tiniest details that will make the difference between a good wine and a great one. Despite the challenges posed by the sweltering weather of 2018 and the mildew-laden conditions that prevailed in the vineyards here (as in Bordeaux), the maiden vintage of Montus and Bouscassé under Antoine’s stewardship has proven to be outstanding, even though the well-structured XL cuvée does exhibit the classic formidably robust tannins with which the Tannat grape is associated.