Saint Mont

Saint Mont is an ancient region, with vineyards planted by the Romans. Production in the past has centred on monasteries including the famous monastery at Saint Mont (pictured above). Benedictine Monks founded The Saint Mont monastery in 1050. The terroir of Saint Mont is pebbly, gravel soil in a series of hillsides and terraces. It produces wines with  richness and full body. It is now considered an up and coming region, focusing on coaxing the most from the best parcels of grapes with modern wine-making techniques whilst mainatining the regional characteristics.

The wines of the region represent the best of regional french wines- character, independant producers, value for money, not to mention the health virtues of the highest levels of procyandins. Magic chemicals contained in wine said to explain the French paradox- high levels of consumpton of dietary fats but lower rates of cardiovascular disease. This so called "wine diet" was explained by Professor Roger Corder in his book The Wine Diet

Both red and white wines are produced. Pacherenc the name given to a white wine produced from within the Madiran/Saint Mont appellation. Only manual harvesting is allowed.

Tannat is a highly tannic variety and is the major variety in the wines of Madiran.  When the wines are young, the bouquet of fresh red and black fruits contrasts with the weight of the tannins.  These soften with time, developing spicy aromas and flavours of toast and vanilla.  The Cabernets – Franc and Sauvignon, are used to soften the tannat.

The white wines (called pacherenc) are made mostly from manseng grapes. Like in the neighbouring region of Jurançon the manseng grapes can be made into savoury dry white wines or, using late harvest techniques, they can be made into luscious sweet wines.

We believe these rich but soft reds and the luscious but not too sweet dessert wines of Madiran/Saint Mont have great appeal to Australian drinkers.

DiscoverVin has chosen wines from Saint Mont that are typical of the wines of the region and offer great value for money.

Explore the wines of Saint Mont by clicking on the links to the individual wines below or maybe pick up a pack from the Producteurs Plaimont, one of the major producers in the region.

We sugggest also looking at the wines from Madiran, the neighbouring region/appellation.

Saint Mont produces both red and white wines.