The South-West is a large territorial area of France, comprising the administrative regions of Aquitaine, Limousin and Midi-Pyrénées. However, as far as the French wine area is concerned, the South-West region is a little less clear-cut, as it excludes Bordeaux - a wine region so productive that it is de facto an area in its own right. The wines of the South West have a Long and eventful history. The local rivers play a key role, as they were the main trade routes to bring wines from traditional regions such as Cahors, Bergerac, Buzet and Gaillac to their markets.
The last Trading post before the wines left for the lucrative markets of Britain was the wine town and port of Bordeaux. Britain has been a historic trading partner for the region, which was nominally British for a period following the marriage of Eleanor of Aquitaine to Henry II of Britain. However, Bordeaux businessmen saw the wines in transit as competition for their own local products and took strong measures to ensure their financial security. The result is the French wine map we know today, with Bordeaux being promoted and the other wine regions of the South West struggling to gain recognition for the diversity and Character of their wines.
This history also explains why the Bordeaux Grapes Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Sauvignon Blanc are now three of the best-known grape varieties in the world, while traditional South West grapes such as Fer Servadou, Len de l'El and Tannat are relatively unknown.
Interspecific cross between the white bacchus and the white Villard obtained in 1964 by Gerhardt Erich Alleweldt (1927/2005) at the Geilweilerhof Station in Siebeldingen, Germany. It should be noted that the sirius and the staufer were also born from these same parents. Phoenix is little known even in France, although it is registered in the Official Catalogue of varieties of table grapes on the A2 list.
sweet wines from the region of Pyrenées go well with generally quite well with dishes of mature and hard cheese, fruity desserts or blue cheese such as recipes of cheese cromesquis, rice with milk or veal grenadins with pears and roquefort sauce.
On the nose in the region of Pyrenées often reveals types of flavors of minerality, earth or tree fruit and sometimes also flavors of oak, black fruit or non oak.
