Cahors — Paroles de vignerons - Vinparleur

What’s new in Cahors, Pascal Verhaeghe ?

Permalink, by Wine Press...

By Marc Vanhellemenont, In Vino Véritas Belgium August/September 2010

IVV : The Château du Cèdre has asked for organic certification, that’s new…

Pascal Verhaeghe : It is the culmination of a reflexion we started in the early nineties. In 1992, we have started banning all herbicides from our vineyards and managed to keep off from all chemical spraying agents within the following ten years. The remarkable increase of quality of our grapes has encouraged us to ask for organic certification. In fact, it has been incredibly beneficial to give up chemical treatments.

Any changes in the cellar ?
Yes indeed. Since 2004 wine making has changed a lot. We do less work to extract, no more than three or four pigeages, and temperature of fermentation does not exceed 28°C.

What about the ageing ?
We have chosen various oak vats to age our wines and lengthened our ageing periods. Our barrel stock is now made of some 40% of 500 litre barrels, 40% of 225 litre barrels and 20% of large oak vats. That sounds complicated, but due to an accurate management the wines really get better.

What’s the result ?
The typical characters of the wines are much more appreciated. They have gained in complexity and length, present better acidities and tannins are more elegantly structured due to the extension of the ageing periods. Finally, they are much more “drinkable”, with an increased enjoyment while tasting them.

Which duration for ageing ?
At least 20 months for the “Château” wine and up to 30 months for the GC. That’s long, but we aim for balance and elegance, and that’s what we finally find in the bottle.

Thank you Pascal !

Special thanks to Marc Vanhellemont, who gave permit to publish his article on our website. Marc Vanhellemont is a Belgian journalist, who writes for different wine magazines in Belgium and France. You may read more on In Vino Veritas and the wine blog Les 5 du Vin.
Le Cèdre 2008: Black velvet from Cahors

Permalink, by Sebastian Nickel

“Amongst the great winegrowers of this region (Cahors), Pascal Verhaeghe from the Château du Cèdre might be considered as one of the most talented”, writes Marc Vanhellemont when he visits the region and tasting the wines of Château du Cèdre. The 2008 wines have been bottled some months ago...

Dark in the glass, serious but delicate in the nose. A bouquet that gets more and more complex – raspberry and eucalyptus, smoky blackberry-marmalade, sweet, exotic spices from subtle oak, as well as hints of the stony earth in which the vines have grown their roots.

Generous, almost voluptuous on the palate, this wine shows a crystal clear acidity with solid, elegant tannins. To savour best with closes eyes…

Tasted on January 31^st by S. Nickel
The nine major organic wine estates of France according to the RVF

Permalink, by Château du Cèdre, Wine Press...

A great reward for our efforts in the vineyards and cellar, appeared in the November 2010 issue of the prestigious Revue du Vin de France (RVF): In a special dossier on organic wines, the RVF names the Château du Cèdre amongst some of the most distinguished wine estates of France, like La Romannée-Conti and Domaine de Trévallon…

(Extract RVF November 2010)

Château du Cèdre, Cahors
Application for organic certification since 2009

The French region of Midi-Pyrénées may claim to have the highest gain of organic agriculture in 2009 (68%). “Maybe that’s because this region only had few organic farming before”, suggests Pascal Verhaeghe, one of the most gifted wine makers of Cahors for more than 15 years.
Nevertheless, one might mention, that the climate of the region is one of the most difficult for organic farming.

The wine you should taste: Le Cèdre 2007, Cahors
100% Malbec, yes, but without and excess of power. It stays fresh and straight, showing the benefits of excellent ageing in oak wood.
17/20 points

Revue du Vin de France Novembre 2010
Pascal Verhaeghe on the 2008 vintage in Cahors

Permalink, by Sebastian Nickel, Château du Cèdre

Let us try to describe a whole vintage with a few words, to make you participate in a wine grower’s year of work: 2008 was what we call a “normal” year in the south-western part of France, a pleasant year without any climatic extremes.

2008 – a real wine grower’s year

Bud burst took place by the end of March, at the beginning of a wonderful spring, with warming sunshine and refreshing rainfall in turns. Every year, the effusive, young vegetation has to be guided and protected by the winegrower’s hands during these first weeks of almost ungovernable growth, until the vines start flowering in early June: Little white flowers you can hardly see, but offering a first delight to your nose.

Although the summer of 2008 was rather dry - with only a couple of rainfalls in July and late August – but without exceptional heat and the rather fresh nights conserved the acidity of the grapes. Leaf removal in the fruit zone and a long, beautiful “Indian Summer” allowed a long and complete ripening of the grapes.

Harvest began on October 13^th under a perfect blue sky, followed by a couple of weeks of work in the cellar and some 22 months of oak ripening for the wines.

Despite all the words, the best way to appreciate a vintages character remains the tasting of the wines. So you should appreciate the effusiveness of spring in the “Château du Cèdre”, the minerality of cool summer nights in our cuvee “Le Cèdre”, and the accuracy of autumnal tannins in our “GC”.
Tasting of the 2008 vintage Château du Cèdre #Cahors

Permalink, by Sebastian Nickel

Bottled in autumn 2010 after some 22 months of ageing in oak barrels, this blend of Malbec and some 10% of Merlot and Tannat shows up with a dark but sparkling, violet colour in the glass.

The spicy nose gradually opens with a smell of ripe and juicy cherries and hints of smoke and tar. A smooth attack and a dense but fluid palate with tight tannins.

The long final solidly stands on an almost perfect balance between structure and freshness, surrounded by fresh fruits, cinnamon and cloves.
A trip through Malbec country

Permalink, by those who speak about wine

Written by Marc Vanhellemont, translation S. Nickel

In the French region of Cahors, the Cot, a grape variety commonly known as Malbec, shows a particularly powerful and elegant expression. Amongst the great winegrowers of this region, Pascal Verhaeghe from the Château du Cèdre might be considered as one of the most talented. Like no one else, he distils elegance, power, nifty tannins and individual character from the Aquitania limestone soils of his vineyards. Even more since the estate has become “organic”…

Château du Cèdre 2007 Cahors

Dark ruby colour with slight purple hints. Nose: A fruity adventure without frills; cherry marmalade with cinnamon and red currant jelly slightly coloured by black- and blueberries. Mouth: Tightly woven tannins slip like silk over the tongue, caressing the taste buds just enough to be thrilled. A nectar, discretely flowing through the palate, whispering about its bouquet and the mouth filling roundness to come.

A wine made of 90% of Malbec and 10% of Tannat et Merlot. Entirely destemmed, the grapes are macerating for some 30 days and malolactic fermentation is done in oak. The wine ripens for 20 months in barrels, about one third of which are new.

Food paring: A wine with a lot of character, but less austere than one might expect. Haemoglobin and lipids seem to be the best partners to escort this wine: Goose or duck, stewed or roasted, with wine, oranges or mushrooms. It will polish the last headstrong tannins and emphasize the fruity character. Furthermore, some spicy, grilled sausages with tomato and beans will give a tasteful reply to the Malbec.

Some white for refreshment: Cèdre Blanc 2008 Vin de Pays du Lot

Pale, light green yellow. Nose: Apricots, white peaches and freshly toasted bread with pistachio paste and violet fragrance. An aromatic, palatable wine, only made from Viognier grapes, fermented in 500 Liter oak barrels, half of them new. Nine months of ripening on fine lees.

Food paring: Excellent for aperitif, with freshwater fishes, white meat or certain cheeses like Comté or Cantal.

Château du Cèdre – of Flemish origin

Léon Verhaeghe from Morsleede in Flanders, left his native country in the early 20^th century to settle in south-western France. His son Charles started a farm in 1958 planting some vines on the property, and adding one hectare of vineyards every year. Today Pascal manages the 27 hectares of the estate together with his brother Jean-Marc.

“We do organic farming. We’ve started in the early nineties by banning all herbicides from the vineyards and managed to get rid of all chemical spraying agents by 2002. This really improved the quality of our grapes and encouraged us to ask for organic certification in 2009.” (Pascal Verhaeghe)
VIDEO - What does Malbec from Cahors smell like?

Permalink, by Sebastian Nickel

Have a look at this video posted on Youtube by Grape Radio. Natasha Hughes, a UK-based wine writer, describes some of the aromas that can be found in both young and aged Malbec wines from Cahors, France.
It’s a very interesting description of Malbec and Cahors wines. Watch it - taste it!
Sometimes patience really pays… Le Cèdre “Grand Cru” Cahors 2000

Permalink, by Sebastian Nickel

Sometimes you have to be patient, even more if it concerns the life a wine. Two years in barrels and eight years of bottle ripening in the cellars of Château du Cèdre for this Cahors “Grand Cru” from the almost mythic 2000 vintage.

The cork looks perfect and shows pleasant smells of fresh cork and dry fruits. The wine pours dark, although more diaphanous than expected in the large glass I choose. This wine needs space…

Getting closer to the glass, my nose first is a little surprised to find a quite young and fresh odour. Sour cherry with a little blackcurrant, but also several shy aromas that prefer to stay hidden at the bottom of the glass. I choose a narrow carafe and quickly decant the wine to give it some air and to separate it from its depot.

Immediately the bouquet develops: Vanilla, cinnamon, hazelnut and cloves intermingle with the more and more powerful and ripe fruit, and finally leaves the emptied glass to delicate aromas of black olives and lemon.

On the palate, clear minerality and smooth tannins with quite some character primarily dominate the wine. Its richness constantly rises towards mouth-filling volume and a long final flavour of cedar wood, white pepper, cherry and hints of smoke.

Accompanied by a pheasant ragout, according to a recipe of famous German Chef Alfons Schuhbeck, with a composition of occidental and oriental spices – laurel, juniper, curcuma, coriander, ginger, chilli, lemon…

A real celebration of tastes!

It’s a rich and savoury wine, now and still for another couple of years. Sometimes, you know, patience really pays…