Let’s not waste time on colour and other visual aspects of this wine. The truth that “wine is made for drinking and not for watching” applies to this cuvee ever since its creation. Mainly made of Carignan grapes, supported by equal parts of Syrah and Cinsault, as well as a smaller percentage of Grenache and Mourvèdre.

A real representative of southern France, that never tried to please at any price, but whose taste always pleased… A seductive peasant, honest, simple and pleasant.

The nose of the 2011 vintage is rich, full of black fruit, oak, roast and smoke aromas, as well as forest floor. Medium-bodied and smooth, with crispy acidity and pleasant, fine tannins. It shows a quite long final, with ripe fruits, fresh marmalade and some spices.

This bottle of wine is easy – easy to match with many recipes and every days food, easy to introduce to your friends, easy to open, easy to drink, easy to like…

While tasting wine, I rarely get distracted by its colour. But for this almost black Touriga nacional from the Minervois I have to make an exception. It shows deep purple hints and it seems to stick to the glass like thick ink. After this impressive visual introduction, the diffidence of its bouquet made of black fruit, ink, tar and fresh fern somehow surprises me. After a while though it opens up, showing quite some aromatic power. The black fruit divides into cassis and blackberry, tar becomes smoke and sweet spices raise from the centre of the glass: Vanilla, cinnamon, chocolate…

Fresh and mellow on the palate, with few tannins and maybe a little bitterness towards the end, due to its youth. Tasty and very seductive, excellent with a piece of young Cantal cheese.

Later in the evening, I am going for some chocolate with chilli and other spices. The result is amazing. While the spices lower the sweetness of the wine (without making it taste harsh), they push the fruity and spicy aromas out of the glass, adding laurel and rosemary to the smell of fresh fern.

Six months after bottling we would like to refer to a new look at our Prestige des Hautes Garrigues and the stunning 2010 vintage.

At the first sniff, the nose is rather reserved, but it opens up quickly, evolving towards intensity and aromatic complexity. A lot of fruit and wild herbs – sweet and sour cherry, blueberry and raspberry, laurel and rosemary – attest the youth of the wine in the same way as cocoa, blond tobacco and cinnamon witness its ageing in wooden tanks for 18 months. On the palate freshness and minerality rule over volume and power, creating an elegant and feminine wine, whose powerful tannin structure though should not be underestimated. Pepper mingles with fruits, smoke with wild herbs, while dried figs and preserved lemons give length and depth to the final.

According to Robert Parker, this wine is sensational. “Its inky/purple color is accompanied by glorious aromas of creme de cassis, kirsch, blackberries and a cornucopia of roasted herb, meat and licorice smells. It possesses fabulous intensity, a multidimensional mouthfeel and a tremendously long finish that lasts 40+ seconds. This beauty should drink well for two decades.”

“I lined up 19 malbec wines and started to think of a dish that would bring out their best and opted for that North African favourite: tagine.”

“[...]But then came the Château du Cèdre 2008, Cahors, France ($22.35, SAQ #972463), my old favourite that just made everything taste so sophisticated. As much as I enjoyed the others, this wine brought the tagine to another level. With each sip, I remembered what I loved about it so much: its inky colour, its aromas of blackberries, spices and smoke. I relished its velvetiness as it raced down my throat, followed by lingering flavours of vanilla and cinnamon. It’s as though the Cèdre was destined for the dish.”

Seventh „Coup de Cœur“ fort he leading cuvée of the estate. As a “spiritual leader” of the Minervois, Pierre Cros belongs to those wine grower artists, that have found the Holy Grail in their vineyards and share their life’s work with us, by honouring our tables with their Devine brewage.

This 2009 provides aromas of black currant, vanilla, blackberry, pepper and cinnamon of exceptional intensity. Smooth and full-bodied, even sensual on the palate, this wine evolves towards an apotheosis of a nearly endless final.

Somebody may ask, which is the best moment to drink our wines. Being able to age for long years, one may be tempted to leave them in the cellar, being afraid to open them too early. Recent tasting of the wines we’ve bottled earlier this year offers a good occasion for us to present our point of view.

Since many years we multiply our efforts to enhance the “drinkability” of our wines as “young ones”. For us, organic farming, grape ripeness and gentle extraction during vinification are the main factors to achieve this. Of course there is a difference in taste and odour between a young wine and one that has been ripening for 10 years in a bottle. But to enjoy one or the other finally depends on our palate and preference.

But let’s start at the beginning, with our Cuvée Héritage 2010. We recommend tasting this wine within the next 5 years. Delicate but showing quite some character, it belongs to those we won’t hesitate to open, whenever we feel for a good glass of red: Barbeque, Pizza, Coq au Vin, during the week or in the weekend, with family or friends… A very flexible and social wine, that suits to many occasions.

Coming to the Château du Cèdre 2009, the nose gains complexity, luscious tannins arrive on the palate, and it all becomes a little more serious. Even more if you consider that this cuvee made from Tannat, Merlot and quite an amount of Malbec will easily age up to ten years in your cellar. In its youth, one will particularly appreciate its powerful scent full of fruit and freshness, while spices, woody smells and smooth tannins will reward our patience. Young and slightly chilled, it perfectly matches to a grilled steak, after a certain time of ageing, it enhances our appetite for an autumn dish with fresh mushrooms and game.

The cuvee Le Cèdre probably is our most glamorous wine. Pure Malbec, aged for many months in wood, it shows great elegance on every level and an affectation for special occasions: Birthdays, weddings, New Years Eve, but also on the occasion of a sophisticated dinner with very old friends. Every one of us as his own definition of an opportunity that demands a particular bottle of wine.

The GC loves slowness. Its an effigy of its terroir and fully presents the flavourful power of the Malbec grape. It opens up after three to four years of ripening in barrels and bottles, revealing its complexity of taste and odour over the years. A wine you should listen to, as even we don’t know the fragrances it will reveal to seduce you within the next 15 to 20 years.

You see, there are many reasons and occasions to open a bottle of Cahors wine. So do not hesitate, you will certainly enjoy the experience.