A visit to Château Le Cèdre (Cahors)

[AlexR]

I just spent a very nice weekend in the Lot: city of Cawhores, Lot river valley, St. Cirq La Popie, and Rocamadour.

I only had time to visit one estate because much of the best wine country is far from Cahors itself where we were saying.
And I was with the missus...

We were welcomed by Pascal Verhaeghe (of Flemish origin), who spent 2 hours with us.

I always like visits that start with a look at the vineyards (alas, all too rare).

Le Cèdre has 27 hectares of vines divided into 3 parts. It is one of the stars of the appellation, and Jérémy Arnaud of the UIVC suggested I go here.

Pascal is nothing if not passionate about his wine, which he makes with his brother, Jean-Marc.
They also manage a 25-hectare estate, Ch. Monplaisir, which is just up the road, and a négociant business.

There are different soil types at Le Cèdre, but half of the vineyard is on a relatively steep slope with round stones (galets roulés) similar to Châteauneuf-du-Pape.

I am beginning to come around. I used to think that biodynamic and organic winegrowing was a gimmick. But when a winegrower such as Pascal explains the advantages, you begin to see that it's not just a come-on.

"Le Prestige," the entry level wine, is 90% Malbec and 10% Merlot. We tasted both from the 2008 vintage out of barrel.
The Malbec was inky-dark with tremendous fruit more reminiscent of a fine Northern Rhône. Lovely aromas/flavors of blueberry, blackberry, etc.
The Merlot was less fine, and when it is time to uproot the vines, they will be replaced with Malbec.

The next step up is called simply "Le Cèdre". This sees more new oak and has, as one might expect, more concentration. A real treat.

We didn't taste the top of the range (60+ euros a bottle), called simply GC, but I left with a bottle of the 2004 for my cellar.
Pascal was also kind enough to give me a bottle of his white wine (entitled to a "Vin de Pays du Lot" appellation) made from, of all things, 100% Viognier!

Pascal told me that vintages in Cahors can, on occasion, be very different from Bordeaux. This means that winegrowers can "jump on the bandwagon" when a vintage is so-so in Cahors, but reputed to be excellent in Bordeaux. Of course, it works the other way as well...

For travellers out that way, I can recommend 2 restaurants:
- Le Bellevue in Puy L'Evêque. Good food, very friendly staff, and an incredible view over the Lot Valley. We had a Ch. Famaey with lunch, and it turned out that the lone diner at the table next to us was the owner of the estate! He was also Belgian and we had an interesting talk.
- Chez Marco in La Magdelaine, just east of Cahors. While we didn't like the hotel part overly much, the restaurant is very good indeed and deserves its Michelin star. Wine prices were quite reasonable and the service was professional.

Best regards,
Alex R.

[Houndsong]

I like those wines, but I'm not even going to spell the word because I can't pronounce it correctly.

[AlexR]

Hound,

That's why I jokingly wrote "Cahors" in the first sentence of my post.

The pronuciation is dead simple: Ka-Oar.

All the best,
Alex

[DavidG]

Very nice report Alex.

"Vin de Pays du Lot"

I thought this was reserved for '05 Bordeaux. Guess it's my American pronunciation that has me confused.

[Otto Nieminen]

Thanks Alex, I like Cahors and would like to see more of it available here. We do have one, Ch. Haut-Monplaisir Tradition, also made by Pascal Verhaeghe! It is a great wine for its price - even in expensive Finland, it is only about 10€ / bottle. I'm drinking the '06 now, and it does show a bit of oak (Verhaege seems to use new wood a bit in all of his wines, doesn't he?), but it is quite deftly used so the meaty, dark fruit and vibrant palate all are still what I would expect and hope for in a Cahors. Didn't you try any of the Haut-Monplaisir range with Verhaege?

[AlexR]

Hi Otto,

No, we only tasted Ch. du Cèdre.

I think I could get into Cahors...

Alex