WTN: A great QPR-red

Marcillac Lo sang del Païs 2005, Domaine du Cros
Made from 100% mansois. Dark purple-red colour. Fruity nose with grassy, herbacious hints. Hints of lead-pencil. Fruity and juicy wine in the mouth. Very fine fruit. Concentrated and young. Dark fruits, herbs and spices. Reminiscent of cabernet franc. But with a greater body and more fruit. Deep. Some chalky hints. Fresh acidic structure which bodes for a good food-wine. The finish is slightly rough with light tannins. This is very good for the price and a QPR-winner. My guess is this turns into my house-red for 2007.

Sounds interesting. Never heard of the producer or the grape. What country and region does it come from?

Marcillac is an AOC-area. It is in southwest of France. About 50 miles east of Cahors. There are just a tiny bit of vineyards left here. The grape is locally known as mansois, it is a little more known under the name fer servadou.

Marcillac is a small AOC in France -- not entirely sure of my geography but I think it's roughly south central France -- a bit north of Languedoc, west of Rhone and east of Bordeaux perhaps?

I just had this producer's 2004 and absolutely loved it! I would agree that it's "[r]eminiscent of cabernet franc" but with hefty dose of pepper added to it. Very food-friendly. This now makes the third or fourth vintage of this bottling I've tried and I loved every one. If these wines were more readily available, I could easily see them becoming a house red for me as well -- though I imagine given the size of the AOC and the non-Parkerized style, I should feel fortunate that any bottles make their way across the Atlantic at all. Great QPR, too.