Cahors
- pronounced with a silent “h” - is located in southwestern France
on the Lot River. Cahors has produced wine continuously since approximately
50 BC.
The history
of Cahors wine is longer and more glamorous than Bordeaux (Cahors
was served at the marriage of Eleanor and Henry II; Pope John XXII
was born in Cahors and he made it his table and sacramental wine;
Jean-Baptiste Colbert, the great mercantilist reformer of the 17th
century, deemed Cahors superior to Bordeaux; and Peter The Great adopted
it as the sacramental wine of the Russian Orthodox Church) but the
often hostile competition between the two regions has been adjudicated
in an enduring way by geography - Bordeaux occupies a choke point
on Cahors’ shipping route.
By law
Cahors must be made from at least 70% Malbec, with the balance allowed
to consist of Merlot and Tannat. In recent years, the popularity of
varietal Malbec from Argentina has contributed to new interest in
Cahors wine.
Philippe
Bernard is the sixth generation of his family to oversee the 50 hectare
estate of Clos la Coutale, just west of the town of Cahors. The property
was founded over 100 years ago by his Great-Great Grandfather, Valmy,
and now produces almost 20,000 cases annually.
All the
grapes are destemmed and pressed before fermentation in stainless
steel vats, each grape variety from different parts of the vineyard
is fermented separately. Maceration at 28º C. takes 15 days. The wines
are fermented for three weeks. After racking from stainless steel,
half of the wine goes into 60-gallon Seguin-Moreau barrels, while
the balance is aged in 800-gallon foudre.
The wine
is blended and 12 months in oak vats gives it special aromas of vanilla
and soft tannins. The wine is bottled unfiltered.
