tannat

Tannat is best known as the variety behind Madiran in southwest France, where it is blended with cabernet franc and sometimes cabernet sauvignon to round it out. It is a tough variety with immense colour and tannins and an inherent astringency which requires at least 20 months' wood ageing to soften. Thus it tends towards an old fashioned style of wine and wine-making and hence is falling in popularity in France. However, the baton has been taken by Uruguay (it was originally bought here by Basque settlers in the nineteenth century) where it is still much in evidence, and to a lesser extent Argentina.

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