The Black Wines of Cahors

 

Pont Valentre, Cahors

 

This pretty rural region is situated midway between the Atlantic, the Pyrenees and the Mediterranean.  The river Lot flows through the heart of the appellation with the attractive medieval town of Cahors at its centre.

 

 

About 30 kilometres away as the land rises to form some of the best exposed terraces of vines, one finds Château Lamartine.  The château has 32 hectares of vines, comprised mainly of Malbec, with some Merlot and Tannat.  In the past, the legendary black wines of Cahors were deep and overextracted.  These wines were often tough and chewy, and no amount of age seemed to improve them!  However, in the past 25 years there has been a move towards less extracted, fruitier wines made mainly from Malbec.  Interestingly, in the past 10 years it has taken the Argentinians to show the French how to make attractively fruity, commercial wines from the transplanted Malbec, and this grape variety is now the signature grape of Argentina.

 

                                    Château Lamartine

 

 

 

 

 

Château Lamartine has been in the hands of the same family for the past century and Alain Gayraud is the current owner and winemaker. He makes three different wines and strives to produce wines with elegance and fruit that express the terroir of the terraced vineyard.  We spent a couple of days visiting numerous vineyards in the area and we felt his wines perfectly expressed the style of the new Cahors – a style that has the wonderful expression of fruit seen in Argentina but some of the complexity and elegance that the best French wines achieve.

 

 

                                                                                                                                                                  Alain Gayraud

 

 

We are offering a Mixed Case of six bottles of two of the wines :

 

Château Lamartine Tradition 2004                                                                                                              £6.95

AC Cahors

This is made from 90% Malbec and 10% Merlot, and 30% of the wine is aged in oak – half of this in small and the other half in large barrels.  The resulting wine is deep in colour with red fruits on the nose with a hint of oak, while on the palate there is lots of approachable blueberry fruit with a silky texture and gentle ripe tannins. Deliciously drinkable and very elegant!

 

Château Lamartine Cuvée Particulière 2004                                                                                           £7.95

AC Cahors

This wine is made from older vines, between the age of 40-55 years, and with 90% Malbec - but this time with 10% Tannat. The yields are lower at 40 hl/ha, giving greater concentration. One third of the wine spends one year in new oak barrels, while the other two-thirds is aged in older oak. The colour is much deeper, and there is an enticing minty nose with plum and damson aromas. The palate doesn’t disappoint with a wonderful concentration of silky, rich plummy fruit which finishes with a touch of liquorice and soft ripe tannin. This was one of Decanter magazine’s top wines in their recent Cahors Tasting.

 

Mixed Case Offer : £89.40

 - As usual please email, fax, phone or write to place your orders -