As the world gears up for the World Rugby Cup slated to take place in France in September and October, some French players, all champions of this year’s Six Nations Tournament, which was won by France this year, have undertaken some serious wine diplomacy for the Gers, a region of southwestern France that is a hotbed for rugby and a place of great gastronomy. Grégory Alldritt, Anthony Jelonch and Cyril Baille, all natives of the Gers, are the trio behind and on the labels of three wines emanating from the great appellations in the region: AOC Madiran, IGP Côtes de Gascogne and AOC Saint Mont. IGP is the French acronym for a protected geographic area. Plaimont, the union of cooperative wine cellars of Gascony and  Piémont Pyrénéen, produced the wines. 

Anthony Jelonch is the son of winemakers in Saint Mont, a region which produces  an AOC Saint Mont, AOC is the French acronym for an Appellation d’origine controlée or a controlled designation of origin. « Saint Mont, that is where I come from, where I grew up in my family of winemakers, where pride of belonging, passion and the strength of our conserved heritage come together to make unusual, intense and generous wines, » he commented. Grégory Alldritt was born in Condom, a beautiful village in the heart of Gascony and where the harvest is conducted at night. « Where I am from, in Gascony, we cultivate team spirit in the heart of green and generous vineyards where the nocturnal harvest showcases the crispness and aromatic potential of the white wine grape varieties, » he commented. Meanwhile Cyril Baille hails from the region adjacent to Gascony known as the Piémont Pyrénéen, the cradle of the ample and highly original Madiran wines. « My roots in Madiran country have inculcated in me the perseverance and precision of the wine makers, who everyday work to highlight an exceptional and varied terroir (Editor’s note: the exact land and growing conditions for a crop)  for wines that are complex and elegant, » he noted. 

Madiran is a powerful red wine that has been produced in the region since at least the 12th century when the Benedictines founded an abbey there bringing with them their grape variety, the Pinenc which is in the Pinot of Burgundy family of grape varieties. The vineyards of the region today are planted with the Tannat, which imparts upon it its deep purple color and the Bouchy, which gives it a certain finesse,  grape varieties. The Madirans, which are pungent and can be aged like the Burgundies, has to be made from Bouchy, the Pinenc from our Benedictines, Cabernet Sauvignon and Tannat. Saint-Mont earned its AOC or controlled designation of origin label in 2011 and Saint Mont wines are made with some of the 20 grape varieties of the region, seven of which have yet to be identified and which have been carefully preserved and looked after by the local wine growers. Although there are white, rosé and red IGP Côtes de Gascogne wines, the Côtes de Gascogne is reputed for its dry, crisp white wines, one of the most widely exported white wines in France. The vineyards in this region were historically devoted to armagnac and the wine growers have been making still wines only since 1974.  ©Trish Valicenti for The Gourmet Gazette. https://www.plaimont.com/en/