Red: Château Cahuzac 2006

Toulouse, the famous "Pink City" (many buildings are built of a pink stone) of the South-West of France, sits on the sleepy Garonne River. Just a few kilometers to the north lays the Fronton region, the district that historically has provided this bustling metropolis with its local wine. And what a wine it can be. Based on a varietal called Negrette (literally "the little black one", which is virtually an exclusivity of the area), it is one of these jewels of French country wine that offers more character per drop than it has any right to do. It has a lithe, briary flavor that is reminiscent of Gamay as grown in Fleurie or Moulin-à-Vent. Blended in this case with the noble Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah, it is one of those quintessentially French wines that offer great flavor intensity and impact in a light to medium-bodied frame.

This ruby-hued, aromatic red is well suited to such hearty southwestern dishes as cassoulet and duck confit, not to mention hard sheep's cheeses.

Château Cahuzac was the ownership of the Ferran family for a dozen generation or more. Alas, that 240-year history has now come to an end. Indeed, 2006 was the swansong of Claude Ferran. The good news is that his successor, Nicolas Gelis, is a man of the region and already the proprietor of other Fronton vineyards. One has the feeling that the estate will continue along its well-trodden path for years to come.