If there is a more effective advocate for the wines of Southwest France than all of us at Liner & Elsen, then it must be the good people at Plaimont, the leading cooperative project in the region with headquarters in the Saint Mont region just north of Madiran. Aside from their impressive work in Madiran, Jurançon, and the Cotes de Gascogne, they are mainly responsible for founding the Saint Mont appellation, and if making fantastic traditional wine isn’t enough, their nurseries hold stock of more than a dozen indigenous varieties once thought to be extinct. This Saint Mont Blanc is a great example of strictly southwest grapes in action: Gros Manseng, Petit Corbu, and Arrufiac combine in stainless steel tanks to make intense aromas of spiced apple sauce, white strawberry, honeycomb and orange zest. The palate is full bodied and creamy, with a delicious wallop of apple sauce and orange leavened by clean cut acidity bursting on the finish. A perfect match for herbaceous bean stews and soft cheeses.