Clos La Coutale Cahors 2021

Fresh Blackcurrant, Black Plum, Menthol, Dried Lavender, Clove, Wet Earth

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"Though Malbec is often associated with Argentine winemaking, the variety actually originates in France’s Lot River Valley, located southeast of Bordeaux. Centered on the river port of Cahors, viticulture has thrived on the limestone plateaus that flank the river since the days of the Roman Empire. Although these wines enjoyed immense popularity during the Middle Ages and Renaissance, crippling tariffs from their northern neighbors in Bordeaux and the eventual outbreak of phylloxera in the 1880s almost destroyed the region’s proud history. However, since the late 1950s, the region has been experiencing a renaissance and lifelong winemakers such as Philippe Bernède are in a better position than ever to share their wines with the world again.

The Bernède family has been producing wine in Cahors for six generations, farming sixty hectares of land overlooking the Lot River. Philippe focuses on wines that balance drinkability with aging potential, and tinkered with his flagship blend relentlessly before landing on a roughly 80-20 split between Malbec and Merlot. In order to preserve the unique terroir of Cahors, Philippe employs many traditional and “natural” methods in the vineyard, including dry farming and eschewing chemical fertilizers and pesticides. In the winery, the Malbec and Merlot are vinified separately in custom steel tanks of Philippe’s own design. Once dry, the two wines are blended together and spend a year in a mixture of neutral oak foudre and gently used Bordeaux barrels before bottling unfiltered." - J.P.