Grape Variety: Fer

Colour: Red

Also known as Fer Servadou, this earthy grape grows in the iron-rich soils (les rougiers) of south west France and is an important component of blends in several appellations including Gaillac, Marcillac, Bearn and Madiran as well as the VDQS of Entraygues et le Fel and Lavilledieu amongst others.  It has good resistance to mildew, but is affected by oidium.  Early budding helps protect the grapes from springtime frosts. Called Mansois or Mansoi in the tiny appellation of Marcillac the grape is responsible for inky-red wines with vibrant acidity, digestible tannins and savoury fruit. Domaine du Cros (Philippe Teulier) and Le Vieux Porche (Jean-Luc Matha) are two of the leading growers in the appellation.  The former makes a wine called “Lo Sang del Pais” (the blood of the land); a pure ‘glugging’ Marcillac being light and supple with juicy raspberry flavours underpinned by slate and gravel notes. His reserve wine is typically more complex, a “Vieilles Vignes” made from eighty year-old vines spending eighteen months in old oak casks.  It expresses myriad black fruits: blueberry, blackberry and blackcurrant.  These wines define the notion of ‘gracia placendi’ - delicious wine so instantly appealing that we unfurl our tongues and allow the flavours to slide silkily across our palate without analysis.  The Marcillacs from Jean-Luc Matha of Le Vieux Porche are equally captivating albeit in a gruffer register. His “Cuvée Lairis” exhibits a supple texture, packed with red and black fruits while the “Cuvée Peirafi” is strikingly mineral with elegant red fruit and an iron grip. In Gaillac Fer is also known as Braucol (confusing, huh?). “La Vigne Mythique” from Domaine d’Escausses is a beautifully composed wine where the wildness of the terroir is translated into something quite elegant- this is made from 100% Fer Servadou and it is so striking that it received a coveted ‘Coup de Coeur’ from the Guide Hachette.  Aged in partly new oak, its nose shows coffee, ink and warm gravel with inky and wild mint notes; beautifully supple and creamy in the mouth, with the oak superbly offset by pure acidity and delicious fresh berry fruit aromas. A truly confidential wine, as they say in France. Balaran also produces a cuvée called “La Croix Petite”, a blend of 50% Fer Servadou with 25% Syrah, 15% Merlot and 10% Cabernet Sauvignon- it is a dark, powerful blend matured in one third new oak and one-year old Allier barrels; the mint and vanilla are plumbed in on the palate, the terroir does its phantom of the opera routine after an hour in the carafe. Fer is known as Pinenc (there will be an exam on this later) in Gascony and the Béarn where it provides a good ping of bright acidity.