Is this a corner of the wine world worth exploring? Are the better wines from there just QPR everyday wines, or is there anything of real wine enthusiast interest there?
Can anyone suggest an available bottle at retail that you could recommend as a way to check it out?
My local shop has just a few, of which CHATEAU LAMARTINE 2009 BENJAMIN CAHORS $12.95 sounded pretty good from CT and all.
Thanks!
Yes and yes and yes. Compound question! ![[wow.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/7/7d450e9830889c8943b674446a21b7254cad657e.gif "wow"){kind=small}
The wines from SW France are interesting. I prefer Madiran, in particular, Chateau Montus. Wines made from 100% tannat or sometimes blended with some Cab and/or Cab Franc. Burly wines with, as you might expect from the grape name, massive tannins. I find the acidity high was well, which is positive in my lexicon. These wines need serious maturity, but take on a nice rusticity when mature. Pair well with rich foods like cassoulet.
Worth seeking out. Mature Montus is easy to find. My local guy has the 2001 on sale with now for $30.
Incidentally, Tablas Creek makes a wine from 100% tannat as well. Probably my favorite wine in their stable; a very unique wine.
PS. I’ve never really enjoyed the cheaper wines imported from Cahors or Madiran, like the Kermit cuvee. Low acid and flabby, IMHO. Since Montus is really not expensive, just dive in to the good stuff.
Chris,
I largely think of this as a $20 and under category. Haut Montplaisir’s basic bottling is my favorite.
It is my experience that the higher the price of the Cahors, the more overt the oak and the more “international” the wine. They taste less like Cahors and more like an oaked red from anywhere.
Clos la Coutale can also be very good, but my experience is that Malbec is a grape that actually performs better in the new world…
I agree with Robert that Tannat from Madiran or Irouleguy is more interesting from this corner of France.
Can be very good. Heavy wine. Here are two:
Château Lamartine Cahors 2004
Cuvée Particulière
$17.50
3/09
Full bodied, rich, balanced, smooth. Drinks well.
RP = 86 for the 1989(!): “I am rarely taken by the wines of Cahors, and even less so now that they are generally priced too high. However, Château Lamartine has turned out an excellent wine displaying fine ripeness, a spicy, cassis-scented nose, and medium to full-bodied flavors. Drink it over the next 5-6 years.”
Château de Matayac Cahors 2008
11/09
Slightly tannic (a bit young) but very drinkable Malbec. No Malbecishness, it’s Cahors style. Heavy, solid, good length, dark fruits.
I’d say Cahors is worth your time in getting at least a brief introductory…at least for me and my minimal experimenting it’s hit my palate better than red Loire has and can appreciate what Merlot does to balance out a lot of these wines.
Kermit Lynch has Clos La Coutale on their roster, though I wish I had a better opinion on it. I believe the only bottle I’ve tried was cooked, and wasn’t a fair representation, but I’m positive there are producers, at least one or more that are known as producing some of the best “Grand Vins” if you will, of Cahors. I just can’t recall, but I’ll see if I can do some digging. Seem to remember some of their top wines retailing in the $70.00 range, but since there is little interest in the states, it can be difficult to get their best on U.S. soil.
I’m a big fan of both Montus Madiran and Tablas Creek Tannat – Robert A, you and I must have similar tastes. I love the intensity of the purple berry fruit, the mineral, and the high acids and tannin. It’s like a Loire cab franc turned up to 11.
My father has just planted a row of tannat in his vineyard in Yolo County (a little west of Winters, California, or about 40 miles west of Sacramento). A few years from now, I’ll give a hand at making some home-brew tannat.
Since we’re segueing into tannat, I’ve never had one from Uruguay, but always wondered what those would be like. Anyone know a good Uruguayan tannat?
Also, keep any Cahors recommendations coming. I’ll look around for the Haut Monplaisir.
You should read my notes! I’m all over this area. Here are some examples:
from my notes in 2011:
Bodegas Castillo Viejo, ‘Catamayor’, 2005 from San Jose-Uruguay is damn tasty stuff, with darkish black cherry red color, beef aromas and black chernozyom soils and a slight floral lift. Beautiful, serious nose. This is a tensely drawn wine between power and a nicely acidic finish which provides delineation. Austere and brooding at the same time, with black fruits and an iron-nickel-copper finish. Old-World in style, I wish I had another one or two of these to set aside and try in 5-10 years. A-
Good luck finding it!
Speaking of tannat, has anybody tried or aged Cambiata’s? (from a pocket in Monterrey County)
Wow. I’ll dig through those. Do you happen to have a bead on any exciting bottles that are currently available in the retail marketplace?
If you want a Cahors to treat like Bordeaux I’d go check out: Château Lagrezette Cahors Le Pigeonnier. This is their top bottling…and it retails for about $150-$200/bottle. It needs about 20 years age on it…just like a first growth. I’ve had the 2000 a few times and it still needs time for the oak & fruit to find a harmony. It’s not a QPR by anyone’s standard…but if you want something to age for several years…this would be a good place to start.
I love Cahors - but you are going to be hard pressed to find a bottling with a lot of Tannat - Malbec and Cabernet have kind of taken over - especially after Argentina’s success -
One of my favorite bottlings is
CLOS DE GAMOT - 100% old vine Malbec - Malbec out of this area can be quite austere when young - but give them time and they blossom - I’ve had 15-20 year old bottlings from Clos de Gamot that were superb -
CHATEAU HAUT-SERRE is another traditional producer who does use quite a bit of Tannat - their vineyards were replanted in the early 1980s and are just coming of age - these wines really need time (an '82 last year was just coming around) -
I stumbled upon the village of Cahors in the mid 1970s when I was stationed in Germany with the Army was always fascinated by the village and the wines after that - it’s still one of my favorite appellations in France - but they need time -
And as other readers had mentioned - MADIRAN and PECHARMANT are two districts close to Cahors whose wines have probably passed Cahors in quality over the years - well worth investigating -
I agree with this. I tried a few prestige cuvée Cahors, both young and aged, and was never convinced that these wines are really what I like to drink. For example, both the “Grande Cuvée” and the “Le Cedre” from Château du Cedre didn’t really knock me out of my socks.
My house Cahors are Cuvée Particulière by Château Lamartine (90% Malbec, 10% Tannat) and the Clos de Gamot Cahors, both not expensive and really enjoyable. I can’t really drink them on their own though, only with dinner.
I had several - young and aged - of which du Cedre was quite good - but I remain underwhelmed (always quite rustic), I´d always prefer an aged Montus - or QPR-wise any well-made Corbieres/Minervois/Languedoc …
I recommend maybe trying a bottle … and then decide yourself …
The town is wonderful, isn’t it!
This region was once the most densely planted wine region in France and was so rich that Tuscan bankers set up shop there in the Renaissance. It’s hard to imagine now because the area is so bucolic.
It was and still is total magic to me John - I last visited in in 2006 - I always loved the village story about the trolls that guarded the famous Cahors bridge and the warriors that had to confront them after each crusades while they were returning home -
This doesn’t answer your question, but if you haven’t seen it, worth the watch; Some fantastic work from our friends at GrapeRadio:
Wow…these are my two favorites, too…I’ve visited both places. Clos de Gamot is the Petrus of Cahors…some of the vines are pre-phylloxera! And, they plant rose bushes next to each row…to allow any disease to show up before it hits the vines. (Ch. Cayrou, same family…pretty good, too.)
The Hautes-Serres, in the early '80s, is the first wine I ever bought a case of! And, I loved it. It was Georges Vigouroux’s attempt to recreate the old “black” wine of Cahors. He was the guy who attempted to put Cahors/tannat back on the map. (And, it wasn’t on the map after WW I ). I’d be curious to see how it’s developed in recent years…I visited in 1990.
I like the area…but…found it a little difficult to navigate …and some of the food…heavy and rustic.
Like others, I also really love Montus from Madiran. Both the Hautes-Serres and even the Montus drink fine youngish…though…their potential is clear. The Gamot…I found…doesn’t.
Is the Chateau Haut Serre that you’re referring to the one produced by Georges Vigouroux?
If so, I’ve found some 2004 available for sale, which sounds like a good vintage of it according to CT and has the advantage of some age on it.
Speaking of vintages, do the vintages there roughly track the vintages anywhere else in terms of style and quality? For example, do they loosely track the Rhone?