2001 Chateau Montus Madiran

Compared with the wines of Madiran, Syrah is about as inky as Kool-Aid.

Made from the local Tannat grape, this wine from Alain Brumont, one of the appellation’s best producers, is a deep black-red as impenetrable as blackstrap molasses. It packs a wallop of tannin, and for all that, it’s an incredibly sexy wine with something smoky, something wild going on, along with tremendous fruit and character. A little Cabernet in the blend tames a bit of the Tannat’s ferocity.

This is the wine to drink with a juicy roast duck or magnificent fatty goose. It likes pork too, and grilled sausages or ribs. It needs some cooler weather and shouldn’t be served too warm. Give it a slight chill so it has somewhere to go.

Also look out for the Chateau Montus white, which carries the appellation Pacherenc du Vic Bilh. Both the sec (dry) and the sweet are made from the local Petit Courbu grape. But it’s the dry that won me over with its lovely straw color, scents of mushroom and forest and complex taste.

-- S. Irene Virbila

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Quick swirl

Region: Southwest France

Price: About $33

Style: Inky and intense

Food it goes with: Roasted and grilled meats, red wine stews, duck and goose

Where you find it: Len’s Wine Site in Laguna Beach, (949) 376-2215; Wine Exchange in Orange, (714) 974-1454, (800) 76WINEX; Woodland Hills Wine Company in Woodland Hills, (818) 222-1111.