Wine region: France, Middle Garonne

“I am not fond, for everyday at least, of racy, heady wines that diffuse a potent charm and have their own particular flavour. What I like best is a clean, light, modest country vintage of no special name. One can carry plenty of it and it has a good and homely flavour of the land, and of the earth and sky and woods”. (Steppenwolf)

Between the southernmost part of Bergerac and Entre-Deux-Mers lie the Cotes de Duras. The vineyards here are scattered and virtually half the production is in the hands of the cooperatives. The grapes are the same as Bordeaux with Sémillon and Sauvignon dominant in the whites and Merlot and the two Cabernets accounting for the reds. There is also some decent Moelleux made from Muscadelle. Marmandais straddles the Garonne river with two caves co-operatives dominating production. Here you will find the Abouriou grape and red wines with a touch more rusticity, although serious oak-aged cuvées have become fashionable recently. Wine has been made in the Cotes de Buzet, an area between Agen and Marmande on the left bank of the Marmande, since Roman times. The excellent Les Vignerons Réunis des Cotes de Buzet is responsible for 85% of the production of AOC Buzet. Country-style Buzet will be a firm mouthful of black cherries and prunes – many growers are suspicious of new oak while others yearn to create a smooth rich Bordelais style.