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| Chateau du Cedre, Heritage, 2006 (AC Cahors) |
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| Price: £7.50 |
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| Prod.No: A25 |
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90% Malbec, 10% Merlot. Stunning entry level Cahors from one of the very top producers of this very underrated region. Very deep ripe fruit with good firm tannic grip.
Pascal and Jean-Marc Verhaeghe at Chateau du Cedre inherited this domain from their Dutch father Charles and have built it up to become one of the most highly regarded properties of this seriously underrated wine region. In the vineyard they pick when the grapes on the very verge of overripeness and in the cellar they aim for softness, richness and harmony - which they achieve with effortless grace.The Heritage is their entry level wine -( their Cuvee Prestige is already a Grapevine bestseller, and soon we are to add more wines from this absolute gem of a producer) - and for this price it packs a serious punch.
Malbec - the indigenous local grape variety of Cahors - is perhaps better known as an Argentian offering. In fact the reason it is found over there is because a lot people from this region emigrated to Argentina in the 19th century and took the variety with them.
One of the Verhaeghe brothers' many great achievements has been to tame the tannins in the wines the Malbec normally gives when grown in this region. In fact until the Verhaeghs started innovating with techniques such as micro-oxygenation (bubbling oxygen through the wine during fermentation to soften tannins), wines from Cahors were almost universally regarded as undrinkably tannic until they had been in bottle for ten years or so. In this particular case they have added an extra element of softness and roundness by adding a touch of Merlot.
The result is a very intensly flavoured wine with masses of fruit and a strudy tannic structure. This really is a wine that needs food, and you should be thinking of fairly heavy wintry dishes with meat and grease - classically duck or goose and the South West France classic Cassoulet, but also good hearty stews or Casseroles would be equally delicious accompaniments. |
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