Checking In With Les Deplaudes de Tartaras

Tasting the 2017s with Anne and Pierre-Andre.

We don't blame you if you still haven't heard of Tartaras. We are still learning about it more and more with each visit to Anne and Pierre-Andre Deplaude. This time, we were fortunate to have a quick lunch with them as they had just finished harvest the day prior to our arrival.

The press was on when we walked into the cellar, and their assistants, Remi and Guillaume, were busy with a décuvage of gamay. They reported that harvest had started early this year, on August 23rd, and ended on September 21st. Quality and quantities were up, and the smile on everyone's face was a sure sign of a promising vintage. Particularly exciting was the first fruit in one of their new parcels of chouchillon, a local grape, and a couple other recently acquired parcels of pinot noir and gamay that yielded excellent grapes beyond their expectations.

The whites in barrel were already coming along nicely and the 2017s in bottle were absolutely fantastic. If these are any indication, we are in for a couple of excellent years of wines from Les Deplaude de Tartaras.