Let’s party with Cahors wines
Never thought about partying with Cahors wines? How unfortunate! Chicago had a great time during the famous annual party of Chicago celebrity John Young. Candid Candace published a raving report in her blog:
“Every fall my friend John Young hosts one of the most coveted parties around and this year he pulled out all stops. He hosted a party at his magnificent Brompton Gardens showcasing the fabulous Malbec wines of Cahors in the southwestern region of France. The history of Cahors winemaking goes back to the era of ancient Rome and was even served on the tables at the marriage of Eleanor of Aquitaine to Henry II of England. The party always includes David Dodson and John Young with Malbec mascot for the evening, Oscar members of academia, city officials, Chicago’s social elite and friends and neighbors and since he is a garden designer/artist non pareil, everyone is anxious to attend. His many private and commercial projects win almost every coveted design award at the Mayor’s annual competition (Our garden won second place in the residential division under his masterful vision). Lucky guests in attendance included Kathleen Charles, John Robert Wiltgen, Alicia Loftis, David Dodson, Marina Kibardina, retired U.S. Army Brigadier General, Roy R. Moscato, VP of Rush University, Kathleen Andreoli, Steven Doi, Roy May, Joyce and Bruce Chelberg, Charles Vuono, Dr. Chris Henley, Debbie Galasi and Jeff Hoosin among others. Can’t wait until next year John to see how you will top this!”
Cahors wines listed in New York
You might remember that Cahors organized a tasting at the Astor Center in New York on May 12, 2009. That day, I met the young bartender of Domaine wine bar, Cyprian, in Queens. Since then, Domaine Wine Bar listed some Cahors wines available by the glass. If you’re in NYC, enjoy!
More projects for Cahors Malbec
In a few minutes I’ll be on my way to Cahors. I heard of many projects imagined by the Cahors producers and their dynamic marketing director, Jeremy Arnaud. I’ll spend two days in Cahors meeting producers and many other people. I’ll listen to specialists talking about the image of Cahors in the world and how to promote those great but still undervalued wines in the US and China. I’ll let you know what’s happening on Wednesday.
Stay tuned!
Taming of tannins in Cahors Malbec wines
Tracy Ellen Kamens made her Elin McCoy’s statement: “They have tamed the tannins”. What are those two ladies talking about? Malbec wines from Cahors, of course.
After reminding her readers of the long and difficult history of Cahors, Kamens recomends them to look for several wines in their favorite wine stores:
- Château Croze de Pys, Cahors 2006
- Château Les Croisille, Cahors 2006
- Château La Caminade, Cahors 2006
- Château de Haute-Serre, Cahors 2004
- Domaine Cosse Masionneuve, « Les Laquets » Cahors 2004
Enjoy!
Château de Haute-Serre in the news
Château de Haute-Serre attracted the attention of wine blogger, The Wine Mule, who took this opportunity to taste some wines and visit Cahors.
The innovative Cahors Malbec bottle
To help the American consumers to spot a Cahors Malbec bottle on the shelves, the Cahors winemakers just launched a new bottle with the Cahors Malbec logo embossed in the glass. The wines sold in this bottle will be the “feisty and powerful” category of wines (between $7 to $14).
The bottle is not only a marketing tool. It is also environment friendly. Its weight is lighter than the regular weight of a bottle to save energy when sending the wines abroad. Indeed this bottle will be used only on the American market.
Look for the Cahors Malbec bottle when shopping for Malbec!
A fun tasting of Clos La Coutale 2006
Bloggers K & J - who keep very seriously their identity secret - had a fun tasting of Clos La Coutale 2006. It is a conversation between our two anonymous but deeply passionate bloggers. Through their conversations, they give information on the appellation, the city and the region of Cahors. Learn more about French Malbec while enjoying yourself!
Le Bout du Lieu, a rising Cahors wine
Le Bout du Lieu is the property of the Dimani family: Monique and Arnaldo Dimani, with their Lucien, manage the 17 ha of vineyards in the controlled appellation of Cahors. Their wines, Empyrée, Orbe Noir, Le Bout du Lieu and Le Rosé des Nanas received many awards: it is recommended by many proeminent French and British wine critics for their original and contemporary style.
Listen to Lucien Dimani’s interview.
"Cahors Malbec: Meat, your match" or "Cahors is Cahors"?
A few interesting discussions about Argentine and Cahors Malbec arose in the last few days on blogs and forums. Dr Vino wrote a long article on the “campaign that ties their [Cahors] little-known region to the well-known grape, Malbec” and asked: “Is it a good move?” To answer his own question, he asked a few friends to blindly taste one Argentine Malbec and one Cahors Malbec with some grilled meat - a rather classic pairing. His friends identified correctly the two wines and the debate that followed gave a slight advantage to the Cahors wine, a Clos La Coutale.
Does it give a recognizable identity to the Cahors Malbec in comparison with its Argentine brother? Not really. Dr Vino suggests that Cahors adopts a new tagline: “Cahors Malbec: Meat, your match“. This is a very good line that should complement a new tagline: “Cahors is Malbec. But Cahors is Cahors“. Cahors wines have a very distinctive identity - far away from its Argentine counterparts. When Argentine Malbecs have been criticized lately for becoming “boring” (understand without specific character), Cahors Malbec never let go of its soul and its spirit: the wine is always surprising, complex and pleasant.
Still in the spirit of the “battle”, two wine bloggers, Lisa and Gary, discovered Cahors Malbec during the Boston tasting early september. Since then, they became fans of Cahors Malbec and organized a comparative tasting between the French 2005 Chateau De Cenac Eulalie and the Argentinian 2005 Kaiken Malbec Ultra over their hamburger dinner. The “Battle of the Malbecs“, as they titled their post, gave the advantage to Eulalie for its refined taste “with some earthiness, chocolate cherries, and a long, silky finish”. To them, Argentine Malbec is not the “Malbec king” anymore. Hat off to charming Eulalie!
An other discussion on Argentine and Cahors Malbec started on LinkedIn between members of the Wine 2.0 group. It was initiated by Norberto Paez, asistente de enólogo en Bodega de investigacion, Cátedra de Enología, Facultad de Cs. As, UNCuyo who asked the group: “What do you know about the Malbeck wine? For you, is the Argentinian Malbeck the best in the world?” I’m not sure anybody answered Dr. Paez’ question but very interesting ideas springed out of the exchange: some Americans expressed their pleasure at drinking Argentinian Malbecs but mentioned their interest in French Malbec, mostly Cahors. They were sorry it was so difficult to find Cahors Malbecs in the US. Someone else recommended Washington State and California Malbecs.
The interest of the discussion came from its international component: Europeans and Americans were able to exchange their ideas. It showed how the Malbec grape is rich. It has many expressions, depending on its terroir and origins: more fruit forward and lush in Argentina, more complex in Cahors and in between, the newly rising West Coast Malbec in the US. Aren’t we lucky to have such a diversity in one single grape, our beloved Malbec?
The future of the Cahors French Malbec
The Cahors producers are working very hard to improve the quality of their Malbec wines and promote them on the international markets. Their efforts are now bearing fruit. First of all, they sold +3.4% bottles more for a total of 21.5 millions bottles. The prices are up +15.6%.The exports are up 3.7% in 2008 with an increase in gross of 4.6%.
Those results are encouraging but the producers are more ambitious and keep working on improving sales in volume and value. On September 14, a new Cahors Malbec bottle was launched. This bottle will help the consumers identify the Cahors Malbec wines on shelves. The bottles will be available soon in stores. We’ll keep you posted on this new development.
