Showing posts with label Cahors. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cahors. Show all posts

Friday, December 19, 2014

Learning about Wines of Southwest France (Fronton & Cahors) on #Winechat


The last two weeks of #WineChat featured a discussion of the Wines of Southwest France - "a lush, hilly wine region that occupies the corner bordered by the Atlantic Ocean on the west, and Spain and the Pyrenees Mountains on the south. The region is home to a string of more than two dozen winemaking appellations whose producers are united by a passion for place. Some of the world’s great grape varieties originated here and many of the area’s lesser-known varieties are grown nowhere else." 

One wine grape that originated there was Malbec, specifically from the sub-region of Cahors; another Negrette, from Fronton.  For the second week I was sent samples of each from Chambers Street, the Cosse Maisonneuve 2009 Cahors Le Combal (13.5% ABV,  $19.99) and Colombière 2010 Fronton Bellouguet (13.5% ABV, $15.99).

Cahors, is located due north of Toulouse, and the birthplace of the Malbec grape and is known locally as Cot or Auxerrois.  AOC regulations in Cahors stipulates that Malbec must comprise at least 70% of all blends with Merlot and Tannat rounding out the rest. These are black wines, dark and chewy as perfected illustrated by the Cosse Maisonneuve 2009 Cahors Le Combal. This is a fantastic wine, cassis and stewed plum on the aroma, with deep chewy tannins. And I mean chewy and made from organic grapes.

Fronton is also located north of Toulouse, just not as far north and is home to Négrette, where at least 40% must be included in a final blend. Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Syrah, Malbec, Fer and Gamay are the other grapes permitted. The Colombière 2010 Fronton Bellouguet is a funky wine, where the aroma is sweet anise - very gin like - followed by dark fruit flavors with a nice transition into a juicy tannic finish. Another fantastic wine.

This is one wine region I'll continue to explore. Cheers.

Monday, April 21, 2014

#WhyILoveMalbec on World Malbec Day

On Thursday April 17th I participated in World Malbec Day by sampling through seven Argentinian Malbecs through Argovino's #WhyILoveMalbec Twitter tasting.  There were several tweets on the grape's lineage, history, and current planting. The parent grapes of Malbec are Prunelard & Magdeleine Noire des Charentes and it has traditionally been a minor grape in Bordeaux and a major player in Cahors (SW France) where it is known as Auxerrois or Côt Noir. In 1868, Malbec was introduced into Argentina and has found a unique home in high altitude Mendoza. The Malbec grape is thin-skinned and requires plenty of sun to ripen and in Argentina the Malbec bunches are smaller, tighter, more deeply colored than those of Cahors. Perhaps a different clone. Here are my tweets for each wine: