Chateau du Cedre, Cahors 2019

This is Cot, better known today as Malbec. At one time Malbec here was known as "the black wine", being rather rustic, full of angular, astringent tannins, and requiring a long period of ageing. The Verhaeghe family have been influential in overhauling this traditional style and have led the revival of Cahors wine. Yields have been reduced, specific micro-terroirs identified, and the use of synthetic chemicals was abandoned. Care is taken not to over-extract or mask the true character of the wines by over-oaking. Traditional 225-litre barriques have long since been abandoned in favour of 500-litre (or larger) wooden vessels.

Leon Verhaeghe from Morsleede in Flanders, left his native country in the early 20th century to settle in south-western France. His son Charles together with his wife Marie-Therese started a farm with mixed cultures in 1958 planting some vines on vineyard land devastated by the frosts in 1956. They have added one more hectare of vineyards in three different plots every year. The estate is now run by Charles sons Pascal and Jean-Marc who duly studied winemaking in Burgundy & California, and Bordeaux respectively.