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Fer is a red-wine grape often thought to have arisen in France’s Gironde region, but now thought to more likely have come out of the Basque region, shown at the left (now a part of Spain, though the Basques are not happy about that).
Fer would seem to be an old grape variety: for example, it is now known, from DNA analysis to be a grandparent of Carmenère. It is today widely grown in France, pretty much across most of southern France and especially in the southwest. It is the dominant grape of the Marcillac appellation (location shown at the right), often making up 100% of red Marcilliacs; up to 10% of other reds are allowed in a Marcilliac, but most winemakers do them as 100% Fer.
A typical Fer wine will be fairly dark in color, tannic, and a tad herbaceous. In well-made specimens, the flavors are of fruit, notably cassis and the various red fruits. Some describe them as “rustic”, a word with no clear meaning but suggesting the aforesaid herbaceousness (which has led some to compare it to Cabernet Franc).
Factoid: The name “Fer” is not—over-perpetuated lore notwithstanding—related to iron (fer in French) from the hardness of the vine rootstocks; rather, it derives from Latin ferus, meaning wild or (cognate word) feral. That is likely owing to the variety having arisen from wild grape vines.
“According to wine expert Oz Clarke, wine made from Fer is often characterized by its perfumed aromas of currants and red fruit, soft tannins, and concentration in fruit…Wine expert Jancis Robinson describes the wines made from Fer as ‘interestingly perfumed’ with a rhubarb aroma note. Typically the wines are often full-bodied with dark ruby colors and concentrated fruit flavors. Robinson notes that the predominantly Fer composed wines of Marcillac can be tannic and rustic with smokey aromas.”
“The rustic red wines made from Fer (as it is most often refered to) tend to be medium-bodied but with firm tannins, displaying flavors of redcurrant, fig and some peppery overtones. This has proved to be pleasing to the modern palate, and plantings of Fer, while still diminutive, are on the rise.”
“Wines crafted from Fer are typically very dark in colour, with rich wild berry fruit flavours, good levels of tannin and expressing a rather rustic-wild texture on the palate that carries through to a dry finish.”
“Fer itself is quite tannic and acidic, with a medium body and notes of tart cherries, cranberries and blackberries. Fer from Gaillac will have a heavier body with more smoky, complex and dark fruit notes.”
“It’s characterised through its rustic red production that is medium bodied and tastes strongly to the tongue with firm tannins…The wines are mostly dark purple coloured with flavours of blackberries, cherry fruits and some notes of smoke and a tangy, leathery hint; very deep and complex.”
[Describing one particular bottling:] “I was really impressed with this very drinkable red. Not light and shrill, nor heavy and ponderous, it had a Goldilocks-esque just-rightness to it. Did [it] have a touch of earthiness, some non-fruity flavors? Yes. But more along the lines of sitting on a forest floor, casually leaning back against a tree rather than spastically rolling around in barnyard mud. The wine just got better the longer it was open, too.”
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Some Descriptions of Fer Wines
“According to wine expert Oz Clarke, wine made from Fer is often characterized by its perfumed aromas of currants and red fruit, soft tannins, and concentration in fruit…Wine expert Jancis Robinson describes the wines made from Fer as ‘interestingly perfumed’ with a rhubarb aroma note. Typically the wines are often full-bodied with dark ruby colors and concentrated fruit flavors. Robinson notes that the predominantly Fer composed wines of Marcillac can be tannic and rustic with smokey aromas.”
“The rustic red wines made from Fer (as it is most often refered to) tend to be medium-bodied but with firm tannins, displaying flavors of redcurrant, fig and some peppery overtones. This has proved to be pleasing to the modern palate, and plantings of Fer, while still diminutive, are on the rise.”
“Wines crafted from Fer are typically very dark in colour, with rich wild berry fruit flavours, good levels of tannin and expressing a rather rustic-wild texture on the palate that carries through to a dry finish.”
“Fer itself is quite tannic and acidic, with a medium body and notes of tart cherries, cranberries and blackberries. Fer from Gaillac will have a heavier body with more smoky, complex and dark fruit notes.”
“It’s characterised through its rustic red production that is medium bodied and tastes strongly to the tongue with firm tannins…The wines are mostly dark purple coloured with flavours of blackberries, cherry fruits and some notes of smoke and a tangy, leathery hint; very deep and complex.”
[Describing one particular bottling:] “I was really impressed with this very drinkable red. Not light and shrill, nor heavy and ponderous, it had a Goldilocks-esque just-rightness to it. Did [it] have a touch of earthiness, some non-fruity flavors? Yes. But more along the lines of sitting on a forest floor, casually leaning back against a tree rather than spastically rolling around in barnyard mud. The wine just got better the longer it was open, too.”