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MARCILLAC - THE NEW WINE FRONTIER
We've always thought Saturday afternoons at Ericks is a great place to try a wine you've never had before to see if you like it. A free one ounce pour is surely better than investing money in a pig in a poke. Well, this coming Saturday is just such an opportunity to see what's out there besides Chardonnay, Cabernet and Merlot. Drum roll - all spotlights are on the appellation of Marcillac in southwest France, where the wine is red and the grape is the famous Fer Servadou, or Mansois as they call it down there.
Initially (like, a thousand years ago) a thriving business, wine production met the needs of the local population and were held in high esteem by the middle classes and the clergy of the area. However, a public health crisis at the end of the 19th century, the frosts of the early 20th century and the decline of the mines combined to bring down wine production, and it reached its lowest point ever in 1965. It was at this point that a handful of producers decided to take action in order to prevent the wine industry from becoming completely extinct. In 1965 they decided to apply for VDQS status (Vin Délimité de Qualité Supérieure), i.e. the classification immediately below AOC wine, which it was granted under the name Vin de Marcillac. The growers re-landscaped the vineyards and cleaned up their cellar work, and in 1990 the wine-growing area was granted AOC status under its present name, Marcillac.
You won't find any Marcillac at Lowe's, that's for sure. You have to come to Erick's Saturday to see what the fuss is all about. We're very excited to have been able to get a bit of this wine and introduce you to what may be a once-in-a-lifetime wine experience!
2010 Domaine du Cros Marcillac "Lo Sang del Pais" ($14.99). Not even Robert Parker has heard of this wine, so we had to turn to Lettie Teague of The Wall Street Journal. She says, "the 2010 Domaine du Cros Lo Sang del Pais Marcillac practically burst from the glass with powerfully vivid floral and raspberry aromas. It was unlike any wine I'd ever tasted, and from a grape I'd never encountered before-the Fer Servadou-thought to be a cross between Gamay and Cabernet. It was Pinot Noir gone wild...This wine from southwestern France has a truly exotic nose of blackberry and spice. It might be a stretch to call it Pinot-esque, but it's a lovely wine for the price and partners well with food." Be the first in your block to add a Marcillac to your wine collection.
We'll also be pouring the 2009 Château de La Vieille Tour white Bordeaux ($14.99) for you Sauvignon Blanc fans and two more fine red wines. For our paid tasting wine, with proceeds from the $5 tasting fee to be donated to the Avery County Humane Society, we'll be pouring the 2008 Loring Wine Company Pinot Noir, Central Coast ($38.99). Wine Spectator 89 points: "Offers mineral and loamy earth flavors, with dried berry, sage, herb and cedar. Full-bodied, with a touch of porcini mushroom, ending with dried graphite and earth flavors."
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