I saw this at Whole Foods for $12 and couldn't resist. 

 

Marcillac is a small AOC in southwest France that surrounds the city of Rodez.  We drove through the region last summer, and drank the wines when we were in Paris.  The wines are probably the truest expression of the Fer grape still produced.  While the grape is allowed in most southwest France AOCs, this is the only AOC that requires the wines to be at least 90% Fer (Gaillac is another AOC requiring a large percentage of either Fer or Duras).  These are relatively high elevation vineyards, lying between 500 and 750 meters above sea level.

 

The wine is a deep garnet color.  The nose shows red fruit aromas with a little garrigue.  On the palate, the wine starts a little fat, with cherries and raspberries.  The midpalate turns somewhat lean before the strong and long black pepper finish kicks in.  While this wasn't a great wine, it was interesting because of the flavors, its rarity (at least in Oregon), and the education of trying another example of a rather obscure grape variety.