Wine World
Wine to make you smile this summer Mairead Robinson suggests some great French wines to brighten the summer days.
Always on the lookout for something new and different, I was delighted to come across a range of wines called Lou Gat recently from a family producer in the Gascogne region. Landowner-wine merchant, Maison Marcellin is part of the evolution of a family estate, whose winemaking know-how has been enriched by the work of three generations. Located in Condom in the heart of Gascony, Maison Marcellin continues the tradition by producing and marketing wines from Côtes de Gascogne, exceptional Armagnacs and French brandy. Both the story behind the name, and the label are particularly interesting. First of all the name Lou Gat means the cat in the local dialect Occitanie. A legend dating back to the 13th century tells that after a decade of disastrous climate, crops were scarce and famine settled. In the village, they decided to eat cats by cooking them, leading to cat's extinction and a proliferation of rats who ate the vines. Thanks to Angeline, who kept a couple of cats hidden in her attic preserving their lives, 20 kittens were born. She then decided to drop them in the village and they decimated the rats, thus saving the viticulture. A Pied Piper story with a happy ending! The labels are simple yet striking – quite a novelty in French wine. They are all screwcap closures and each of the three wines are named simply by colour. Yellow, blue and purple. 56 Senior Times l August 2020 l www.seniortimes.ie
