Monastere
⏳ Drinking Window
Typically best enjoyed 5–15 years from the vintage release, allowing the powerful Tannat tannins to soften and integrate.
🍽️ Food & Wine Pairings
Confit de canard, slow-cooked lamb shank, matured hard cheeses
✨ Technical Specifications
The Monastère cuvée is a historic flagship of the Saint-Mont appellation, deeply rooted in the monastic heritage of South-West France. Its story begins in 1050 with the foundation of the Benedictine Monastery of Saint-Mont, where monks painstakingly cultivated vines on the steep, clay-limestone slopes overlooking the Adour valley. Today, Plaimont has meticulously restored these ancient monastic vineyards. Crafted primarily from Tannat alongside indigenous Pinenc and Cabernet Sauvignon, this wine undergoes traditional vinification and extensive aging in French oak barrels. The result is a powerful, deeply concentrated red that pays homage to centuries of viticultural devotion, characterized by intense black fruit, refined yet robust tannins, and a distinctive mineral undertone derived from the unique terroir.
🍾 About the Producer
Established in 1979 through the union of wine cooperatives in Plaisance, Aignan, and Saint-Mont spearheaded by André Dubosc, Plaimont is an undisputed viticultural vanguard in Gascony and the Pyrenean foothills. Spanning diverse terroirs across AOC Saint-Mont, Madiran, Pacherenc du Vic-Bilh, and Côtes de Gascogne, its vineyards are defined by variegated soils of tawny sands (sables fauves), limestone, and clay-rich molasse tempered by Atlantic and mountain currents. Renowned worldwide for its preservation of ampelographic heritage—exemplified by its private conservatory and historic ungrafted pre-phylloxera plots in Sarragachies—Plaimont has revived forgotten indigenous varieties such as Tardif, Arrufiac, and Manseng Noir. In white vinification, Plaimont champions crystalline freshness, precise reductive aromatic protection, and thoughtful lees contact, highlighting local Gros Manseng, Petit Manseng, and Colombard. Landmark cuvées include Cirque Nord, Les Cépages Préservés, and Les Vignes Retrouvées, presenting tensile minerality, bright citrus, exotic orchard fruit, and textural salinity emblematic of southwest France.
🍇 Grapes
Tannat, Pinenc, Cabernet Sauvignon
🍷 ABV
14%