There is nothing remarkable at first when you drive up to Chateau Flotis. You can hear the A62 freeway a few hundred yards away, the autoroute de deux mers from Bordeaux to Toulouse. The building is tucked between non-descript looking vineyards and oak forests, and it looks a little worse for wear. Inside, however, winemaker Cathy Ribas makes a stunning black wine of noble origin, a wine with roots that go back to Roman times. Fronton, found between the Tarn and Garonne rivers just north of Toulouse, was first planted to vines by Roman soldiers. At some point, the Negrette grape became the signature vine of the area, and Fronton built a strong but very local reputation in Toulouse for soulful, deep purple wine. Poor, stony soils and a gentle dose of elevation (600 ft above sea level) make Flotis’ vineyard ideal for bringing out Negrette’s intensity. On the nose, we get blackberry, blackcurrant, deep red rose and violet. Fresh turned potting soil after a rain. Black pepper and smoke from a burnt orange peel. The palate offers more of the same sharp black fruit, tarry earth, pepper and nutmeg whispering on the finish. Fronton’s coat of arms features a duck. We suspect that’s a centuries old food pairing suggestion.