Does wine need more freedom? We do not have an answer yet. If we intervene as little as possible in the cellar, we nevertheless keep a close watch on our wines and the creation of our Cahors Extra Libre became possible only after years of preparation in the vineyards.

Being a free wine, the Cahors Extra Libre immediately shows its (black) colour. Wild berries, spices and pipe tobacco ... a seemingly indomitable bouquet. At ease in the glass, it quickly moderates its temper, showing more fruit and delicate fragrances of violet and elderflower. On the palate the wine surprises as much, appearing airy as well as dense and compact. However, though extremely delicate, the wine never tries to deny its roots from Cahors, as coined by the spiciness and cedar wood character on the final.

A wine that surprises us by its expressiveness and its diversity, sticking close to its origin and grape variety. He’s definitely free, this Cahors ...

"We are not labeled for biodynamic farming, but we apply it in our vineyards. We never claimed the status of being entirely biodynamic, because it’s more comfortable to practice in small areas. However, we try to get as close to it as possible. Fifteen years ago, people looked at the proponents of biodynamics like they were lunatics. They even seemed to be a little sectarian. But then, step by step things evolved and we realized that there are a lot of things that work relatively well, although we cannot exactly explain why. In practice, we see that the vines are healthier, that the grapes are of better quality: We get to phenolic maturity with less alcohol, plant mortality is decreasing year after year, etc. A whole number of little things tell us we are on the right track.

For the record: We went for organic farming in 1992, when we have learned that our father had fallen ill because of the chemicals. This was the moment we decided that we had to work differently. Today, among all those who work with us in the vineyards, nobody wants to return to the times we used chemicals."

Extract from the article Vino2Travel

I particularly love this punchy red wine in summer! What really strikes when tasting it, is the liveliness and freshness that it displays. Moderately tannic, I would describe it as being crispy and vigorous, with just enough generosity as it needs. Could we call a wine from Cahors being thirst-quenching? Yes we can, as this wine is living proof! It’s is a young, enthusiastic and happy wine...

I forgot to mention its visual and olfactory aspects? Please excuse me: It’s black and purple as a real Malbec should be, having a lovely bouquet of fresh black fruit, with hints of violet and notes caramelized hazelnuts.

CARNIVORE wine-lovers among us will be delighted to discover this red wine, that strongly supports long BBQ-evenings in summer. But it will also comfort the HERBIVORE connoisseur by sublimating a fresh tomato salad with feta cheese and black olives and perfectly matches to all kind of grilled summer vegetables.

During a visit in Cahors, I had the privilege of doing a « prerelease tasting of Château du Cèdre’s white wine. This pure Viognier fermented and aged in 500 liters barrels, has been preciously kept on fine lees for 9 months. Bottled next month, it will be available in September.

The nose, first kept discreet by the presence of the fine lees, shows amazing aromas of honey and beeswax. With a little air and opens up in the glass, showing more and more fruit with notes of apricot and white peach, but mostly develops increasingly, powerful fragrances of lilac and elderberry.
Soft and elegant on the palate, it shows a very nice freshness, underlined by tasty “saltiness”.

HERBIVORE SUPPORT
Its aromatic diversity, as well as its roundness and the long salty final, this wine will make a great companion for various fresh and slightly aged cheeses: Brillat-Savarin, Chaource, Rocamadour ... After a couple of months of bottle aging, try it on a Rigotte de Condrieu, a tasty goat cheese produced on the soils of the Pilat mountains in the northern Rhône area.

CARNIVORE SUPPORT
Sweet water fish, crayfish, but also a chicken supreme on lemon butter, accompanied by snow peas. Keep it simple, using rigorously tasty ingredients!

I became aware of the great potential of Malbec for the first time in a series of tastings at the German Pro Wine Fair in 2004. Better late than never ...
Before that, I mainly knew the variety from some cheap bottles of soulless Negociants, which operated on a large scale to sell the prestigious AOC Cahors for cheap money. Shame on them!

But the Malbec wines that have crossed my path in 2004 (and the ones I still drink and appreciate), have almost nothing to do with those. They are black and deep in color, with a lush bouquet of red fruits, cherries, gingerbread and cedar, with a hint of mint and violets and even with fresh forest floor, mushrooms and truffles after they have reached a certain maturity.
Even more surprising is the seemingly obvious alliance between power and finesse and between fullness and mineral acidity on the palate. Today Malbec has clearly settled amongst the great red grape varieties of the world, to the same extent as Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon and Grenache.

Malbec, also known as Auxerrois or Côt, belongs to the family of Cotoides, a group of indigenous grape varieties from south-western France. The Negrette grapes from the AOC Fronton and the Tannat from the AOC Madiran are its cousins, his father was the Prunelard from the Gaillac region, and Merlot is his half-sister, both their mother was the old grape variety Magdaleine noir des Charentes. Complicated family relationships ...

Before phylloxera, at the end of the 19^th century, destroyed large parts of Europe’s vineyards, Malbec was fairly widespread in south-western France, including Bordeaux, as well as in the Loire region. Today, there are still some 5300 hectares of Malbec left in France, most of which is planted in Cahors. But you can’t do talking about Malbec without mentioning Argentina. With around 25,000 hectares Malbec, this country has given a true cult status to this grape and is also largely responsible for the world’s growing popularity of this originally French variety. Argentinas Malbec wines generally show a more mature, richer and more powerful “style” as the Malbec wines from Cahors, where wine makers tend to emphazise the fine tannins and mineral acidity.

Le Cèdre Malbec Vintage 2011

This is as close as Malbec gets to a Port-style wine. It is rich,
lightly nutty and well balanced between sweet black fruits and
acidity, with firmer tannins that promise aging. Drink at the end of
a meal, like a vintage Port.

Wine Enthusiast November 2014

You may know the varietal as Argentina’s best export, but its roots are French. Get to know the grape’s more structured, transatlantic cousins with some of our favorite French Malbecs available in the U.S. [...]

Argentinian producers have done a terrific job of marketing Malbec as a concept, with the word itself in big type on bottles—but in much of Europe, the grapes aren’t necessarily listed on wine labels, or they go by names Americans have never heard of. So it takes a little more investigation and effort to understand Malbec’s French cousins. [...]

Luckily, Malbecs from France’s Cahors region, where it’s the only game in town, are much easier to track down. Cahors is just east and slightly south of Bordeaux—where, not incidentally, Malbec was the primary grape before 1860—and it’s known for producing intense, tannic and inky-black Malbecs. It’s one of France’s most underappreciated areas, without a doubt. [...]

It took the wine list at Cherche Midi, Keith McNally’s new bistro on New York’s Lower East Side, to acquaint me with my favorite Cahors of all, Chateau Du Cedre’s Le Cedre 2011 ($55). Everything this producer makes is worth seeking out, including Chateau du Cedre Cahors 2011 ($24), with its hearty black plum taste.
But the pitch black Le Cedre, the chateau’s go-for-broke premium product, boasts a host of contradictions, and as in all great wines, they are all elegantly synthesized. It’s rich, but not heavy. It’s full of sweet black fruit flavors—cherry, blackberry—but it has a long, precise finish that does not weigh you down. A note of tar keeps things interesting. And it paired fantastically well with the prime rib at Cherche Midi. These are red-meat wines through and through.
If you’ve been living on a diet of “Solid Red Wine,” Le Cedre is a first-class ticket to the next level of Malbec.

Extract from What to Drink Now: Getting to Know French Malbecs
By Ted Loos on March 26, 2015

Early bud burst announced a precocious vintage last spring. Excellent weather conditions were favourable to flowering, suggesting a good upcoming harvest.

June and July were wet, with an important number of rainy days rather than high pluviometry. Summer finally began in the first days of August and lasted until the end of October, allowing optimum ripeness.
After a very tense early summer, grapes were finally picked with a smile, in a relaxed working atmosphere.
The wines issue from this harvest show high density, crispy freshness and great finesse.

A great vintage for sure.