Our Wines

For our Cahors wine, we want to achieve the maximum fruit to balance the naturally high tannin of the malbec grapes. In our white and rosé wines we strive for freshness, concentration of fruit and above all the essential balance between the components of the wine.

We follow closely new developments in winemaking techniques, both in France and in the wider world. We experiment with new methods, when they are appropriate for our grapes and the kind of wine we make, but our goal remains to make good wine with a distinctly French character.

Red Wine - Cahors Malbec

All our reds are appelation controlée Cahors and are made 100% from the malbec grape variety, which is responsible for the exceptionally deep colour and hence the name of the ‘Black Wine of Cahors’. It also gives the wine good fruit, excellent body and aging potential. Cahors is the birthplace of malbec, which is now also an important variety in Argentina. The majority of the best Cahors wines are made wholly from malbec, and we believe that it is these wines that achieve the full individuality of the appelation.

Each year we mature some of our Cahors in oak, and we bottle some without oak aging. The difference is of style rather than quality – all these wines have the same intrinsic quality because they are made from the same original wine – only the aging methods are different.

Most of our red wines are made to be kept – vins de garde. In time, they will mature into a complex and satisfying balance. They will not reveal their full quality when young and this is why we sell these wines only after they have acquired sufficient bottle age to begin to show their potential. Most will keep and improve for several years more.

Our Cuvée Bonheur is a wine of a quite different style – soft, fresh and fruity with low tannin, to be enjoyed within its first two to three years.

Red Wine List

These are the red wines which we are currently selling, See How to Buy for prices and delivery terms.

•Cahors Classique Malbec

Not aged in oak. Bottled a year earlier than the oak aged wines. Each year the wine used is exactly the same as that used for barrel aging.
Vintages available : 2002, 2004

•Cahors Fût de Chêne Malbec

Aged in barrels of French oak for about 14 months and bottled some 18 months after the harvest. The barrel-aging softens and rounds the tannins of the wine and gives greater complexity to the flavour.
Vintages available : 2001, 2002, 2003
Magnums : 2004

•Cahors Réserve Malbec

This is also a barrel-aged wine, but using older barrels. It has the roundness of a barrel-aged wine but only faint oak flavour.
Vintage available : 2004

•Cahors Cuvée Bonheur Malbec

A fresh fruity wine with low tannin, made to be drunk and enjoyed young. No oak contact.
Vintage available : 2007

2002 Classique Label

Red Vintage Guide

We have been lucky to have a long run of very good to excellent years in recent times. All the vintages we currently offer are of very fine quality.

We have included guidance on how long the wines will continue to improve in bottle. Red wines made for keeping become finer, softer and more complex with age. The point at which a wine is ‘at its best’ is rather subjective because some people like the taste of older wines more than others. Having reached its optimum, the wine will start to decline slowly, but should remain enjoyable for several more years. Our 1995 Cahors is still very pleasant to drink, although it is (to our taste) less exciting than it was a few years back.

2001 – a slow maturing year initially with high tannin, but balanced by excellent fruit. With age it has become subtle and complex and is now extremely enjoyable. The wines should improve with further keeping up to 2011.

2002 – a year with relatively low tannin for a Cahors, but very good fruit. A very approachable year which is most enjoyable now and should continue to improve for another two years or so.

2003 – the year of the heat wave, with sustained temperatures in August of 40°C. The grapes were extremely ripe - many had dried into raisins on the vines and had to be removed prior to harvest. Cahors wines of this year have a characteristic toasty taste; they are very rich and ripe, reminiscent of more southerly wines in a normal year. Wines of power and richness. Excellent now and should keep well for several years.

2004 – a typical Cahors year, more tannic than the 2002s but with excellent concentrated fruit. These are now beginning to be enjoyable, especially the oak aged wines which as usual are a little more forward than the unoaked Classique.

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White Wines

Sunlight through Vineleaves

Although there is little tradition of making white wine in the Lot, there is a growing interest and there are now sufficient plantings to show that very high quality white can be grown in this area. Around 30% of our production is white wine.

Wine Label Le Clos

The wines are classified as Vin de Pays du Lot – for historical reasons, there is no appellation controlée for white (or rosé) in our area. These wines are made with all the care and quality control that we use for our appellation controlée reds.

Our cépages are sauvignon and chardonnay, which we bottle as separate varietals. Our main production of chardonnay is unoaked, but we make a limited quantity of barrel-fermented wine in favourable years. This latter wine improves with a little bottle age.

All our white wines are sur lie - this means that they are kept on the fermentation lies until the spring, to develop ‘fatness’ and complexity.

•La Combe 2008 - sauvignon, dry, full, fruity and aromatic - full of sauvignon varietal character.

•Le Clos 2007 - dry chardonnay with no oak contact, concentrated and rich.

•Le Clos d'Or 2006 - dry chardonnay fermented and aged on the lies in new French oak barriques.

See How to Buy for prices and delivery terms.

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Rosé

Rosé Bottles

photo Michele Ch'i

Our dry rosé is made from 100% malbec. Cool fermentation and the avoidance of air contact ensure a fruity, aromatic and refreshing wine, excellent for summer drinking.

Rosé Label





The wine is a blend of components made by two different methods, each contributing its particular qualities to the final wine (see Winemaking).

Like our whites, the rosé is kept on the lies until spring to add ‘fatness’ and complexity. It is classified Vin de Pays du Lot.

•Rosé Malbec 2008


See How to Buy for prices and delivery terms.


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Food with our wines

Here are a few ideas of the food we think goes especially well with our wines. This list is by no means exhaustive and you can find one or other of our wines that will go really well with most dishes. The exception is puddings, since we don’t make sweet wine. Do try white wines with cheeses sometimes – they can often be better than red, contrary to received opinion!

La Combe  sauvignon:

Le Clos  chardonnay:

Cahors Cuvée Bonheur

Cahors Classique, Réserve and Fût de Chêne:

Rosé – excellent with a wide range of dishes and acceptable with almost anything. Particularly suitable for:

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