Wine World

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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.

Lou Gat is a mosaic representation of the long area of Gascony, which includes different types of soils and climates. While in the north area the calcareous bedrock suits perfectly black grapes (Lou Gat Purple) and some of white like Sauvignon (Lou Gat Blue), the clayish tawny sand soils from the west and the south of the region favours aromatic white grapes as the Colombard and Gros Manseng (Lou Gat Yellow)

The winemaker intends the wines to be ‘straight, fresh and fruity’. The purpose of the design is to simplify the wine in order to catch a large audience with a friendly animal easy to recognize. The rainbow of colours expresses the dominant fruit / profile of each wine: ‘Yellow: lemon, citrus fruits. Blue: blue-grey limestone, blue flowers (lavender, lilac). Purple: Black fruit.’

The yellow wine is an aromatic white, perfect as a summertime aperitif and with light fish and pasta dishes. It would also accompany spicy Eastern dishes nicely. The blue wine is made up of 100per cent Sauvignon, and is a pleasantly dry white wine perfect with seafood or fish dishes and also as an aperitif. Both wines should be served nicely chilled. My

favourite is the purple wine, a gorgeous blend of Tannat, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. A beautiful summer red wine, this easy drinking wine matches well with cheeses and grilled meats and is sure to be a people pleaser if you bring it out for a summer meal. Friendly and approachable wines, the French cat purrs perfectly for the season – keep an eye out for those intense French cat eyes!

Lou Gatt can be found in Baggot Street Wines, Dublin 4 and La Touche Wines For You, Dublin 6. RRP for such wine is between €16 and €18