An excellent value Cahors

  • 2006 Château de Haute-Serre Cahors - France, Southwest France, Cahors (2/3/2012)
    Tasted at monthly group tasting dinner, this is a fantastic overachiever. Perfumey fruit framed by significant but unobtrusive oak. Structured but delicious with lip-smacking ripe plum sweetness and acidity. Just try to find Bordeaux this good, this cheap. 91-92+ (92 pts.)

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How cheap?

PS: Thanks for the note. Have not bought any Cahors for a long time, but with age they can be great.

Lewis, only $17 at Astor in NYC, and $15 is the W-S low price for a different vintage. This definitely is going to make me reallocate some of my budget to Cahors and SW France in general, as I am trying to bring down my average bottle cost and broaden the diversity of what I drink at home. Looking into more Italian, Greek and Spanish wines as well.

I like this Cahors very well. Others I like at similar prices ($20 and under) are Cayrou, Cosse-Maisonneuve, Gaudou, and Les Hauts d’Aglan. These have all been available variously in NYC in the past couple of years.

Thanks Zachary - thats very helpful. I will look for those names.

Disclaimer: I represent Chateau de Gaudou, so bring out your salt shakers kids, it’s time to use those grains!

Thanks Zach for the shout-out!

Chateau de Gaudou makes a similary-priced ($12-15 depending on store) 100% young-vine (5-15 years) no-oak Malbec, all from hillsides (that’s pretty much all they have) called 1733 Malbec. As the name suggests, the family’s been making wine since then, and this is a real eye-opener (again, careful, I am very biased). It’s got all that dark but bright Malbec fruit with really zingy acidity. I call it the perfect French pizza wine. Fabrice is a young winemaker who’s doing some really good work (well, I think so, YMMV). Anyway, feel free to PM me for more info.

OK, sorry to derail the thread, back to the original subject. I would like to try that wine, I’ll have to hit Astor when I get back.
Cheers! [cheers.gif]

Ch. de Haute -Serre is quite a story unto itself. After WW2, two main promoters were trying to revive the “black wines” of Cahors, made from malbec/tannat. One of them, Georges Vigoroux? , created this estate, high up, as the name suggests, from scratch. It has modern facilities and clean wine (and not much related to the “black wine”, which is a concept more than a reality, IMO). It was the first Cahors I noticed in the early '80s in the US, and the first wine I ever bought a case of then (the '82). In 1990, we visited the region and the estate and were very impressed with the operation, and its historical significance in the renaissance of the appellation. Since then, other estates have gotten exposure. I don’t really buy wine anymore, but I do buy the occasional Cahors to enjoy young (don’t have the patience or incentive to age them.) They are always nice and worth the money. I’m really happy to see that Haute-Serre is still a good value.

There are also higher end Cahors which are worth seeking out. One, the Clos de Gamot, owned by the late Jouffreau?, the other reviver of the appellation is the very top end, with some pre-phylloxera vines.

Thanks Michel and Stuart, for the great info. Michel, I will be sure to check out the Ch. de Gaudou sometime soon. Glad I chose to post this note - I actually thought it would slide to p.2 quickly without much notice, and I’m glad it’s sparked some good discussion.

Alan, if you really get the Cahors bug, I’d suggest two books:

Michael S. Sanders, Families of the Vine: Seasons Among the Winemakers of Southwest France (Harper Perennial, 2005): This is a wonderful chronicle of the author’s experiences and relationships with three Cahors winemaking families (Gamot/Cayrou, Clos Triguedina, and Clos La Coutale).

Paul Strang, South-West France: The Wines and Winemakers (UC Press, 2009): A terrific reference book on the greater South-West France region, with excellent information on Cahors domaines within.