Thursday Night Tasting – Cahors vs. Argentine Malbec

This Thursday night tasting was a special one for us. Pete has been interested in learning about and tasting Cahors (Malbec from Cahors, France). Last fall we were at K&L Wines in San Francisco and picked-up a Clos Siguier Cahors Wine, our first Cahors and the only one they had is stock. We were intrigued by the flavors and wanted to learn more about the wines. We described the wine on our blog last fall, and Philippe Lejeune, a vineyard owner and neighbor of Clos Siguier in Cahors, found our review and posted a comment. Pete has been communicating with Philippe since. Pete began collecting Cahors over the past few months, not an easy task. He had to order two of the wines from a retailer on the east coast. In all, Pete collected 6 Cahors, four from 2007, one 2004 and a 2009. Pete began discussing the idea of a tasting comparing Cahors with Argentine Malbecs with George and Gail of Fine Wines of Stockton. This eventually lead to Pete’s presentation Thursday night.

Pete sent Philippe Lejeune the list of Cahors he had collected. Philippe suggested tasting only the the 2007s so as to keep the comparison consistent and not have any vintage differences. George and Gail obtained the two Argentine Malbecs to round out the tasting. Philippe also provided his suggested tasting order and a detailed description of winery location, characteristics and production details.

We went to the wine shop an hour before the tasting and double decanted (poured the wines from the bottle through an aerating funnel into a decanter and then back into the bottle) all of the wines. Philippe suggested decanting an hour ahead of the tasting. Pete arranged the tasting order and I bagged the wines. Only Pete knew the identity of the wines. We also double decanted the two Argentinian wines so everything would be equal.

There were 10 people at the tasting. Pete presented a history of the Malbec grape in both Cahors and Argentina. He covered the geographic, altitude and weather differences and how the styles might vary. He also noted that wines that are labeled Cahors must be 70% Malbec and if they also say Malbec on the label they must be 85% Malbec. Then he discussed how the wines of Cahors differ depending on whether they are grown in the valley or the terraces or on the plateau.

Our assignment for the evening was to choose our favorite wine and then to see if we could identify the two Argentine Malbecs.

Note: After the tasting and everyone had helped themselves to what was left there was still a little bit left in each bottle. Pretty much in proportion to how we rated them, in other words there wasn’t much left of the favorites. We corked the wines and took them home. Pete Vacu-vinned them and we finished them the next evening to see how they stood up to being opened that long. The results were pleasantly surprising and I’ll note how each was after the initial review.

2007 Clos Siguier Red Cahors Wine – The wine was dark ruby with blue at the margins. The nose was somewhat closed for some tasters, but I sensed cedar, dark fruit with herbal notes. The flavors tasted of dark fruit with some tartness, black pepper and some tasters also noted a metallic flavor, maybe the iron oxide in the Cahors soil? The tannins were moderate in amount with a significant amount of acid. Some tasters noted a lingering metallic flavor. Overall, tasters thought this was a bright, alive tasting wine, though not overly complex. Most thought is was a good wine to drink now or within one year. This wine is made from grapes grown on the plateau or hilltop. This would be a nice summertime red wine (12% alc.).

The next evening more red fruit was apparent and the acidity stood out a little more.

2007 Chateau de Chambert Cahors Malbec – Another very dark ruby wine with a bit of violet at the margins. Initially, this wine was pleasantly stinky, with an aromatic leafy nose of blackberries and riper dark fruit. The flavors tasted of complex fruit flavors and spice. Flavors were elegant with a great depth of flavor and variety. The tannins were significant and drying with a lot of acid. The finish was moderate in length with flavor and tannins. This wine was the favorite of the group (7 out of 10) because of the complex, elegant flavors. We thought this wine drank nicely by itself, but would also drink well with food, duck breast perhaps. These grapes also originate from the plateau or hilltop and is 85% Malbec with 15% Merlot (13% alc.).

Was just about the same the next night, may have lost a little complexity but was still very good.

2007 Chateau La Caminade La Commandery – This wine was even darker ruby than the preceding two wines. The nose was a complex combination of coffee, mint and vegetal scents. The flavors were an interesting combination of ripe fruit and vegetal flavors reminiscent of a Cabernet Sauvignon. The tannins were moderate in amount and there was a lot of acid. The finish was moderate to long with both tannins and flavor. This wine was the second favorite of the group. Although the flavors were bigger than the Chateau de Chambert, they were not as elegant. I believe this wine is from the upper terraces and wine was 100% Malbec. The group thought this wine would pair well with grilled lamb or buffalo (13.5% alc.).

This wine picked up some complexity after being opened 24 hours.

2007 Chateau Haut-Monplaisir – Black is the only way to describe the color of this wine. It was quite remarkably dark. The nose was pleasantly stinky initially, then was rather closed with just a bit of berry patch smell. The flavors tasted of dark fruit, but were rather austere in general. The tannins were moderate in amount with good acid. It finished mostly with tannins and little fruit flavor. There was a bit of a bitter finish to my taste. Tasters were a bit frustrated with this wine. It looked very dark and brooding, but delivered less flavor than expected. This wine is from the third terrace and is 100% Malbec (13% alc.).

When we tasted it the next evening the nose was still closed but the flavor had gained complexity.

2007 Michel Torino Coleccion Calchaqui Valley Malbec – A dark ruby color, though lighter than most of the previous wines. The nose smelled of cooked sugar and nutmeg. The flavors tasted of sweet fruit, raspberries and pomegranates. There was a bit of vanilla in the background with a moderate amount of tannins and good acid. The finish was moderate in length with both tannins and flavor. In general, the group thought this to be an easy drinking wine though not very complex with more wood flavors than fruit flavors (13.5 alc.).

2009 Bodega Tamari Reserva Malbec – The color was very dark ruby. The nose smelled slightly of vanilla and blackberries. The flavors tasted of vanilla and dark fruit, though not particularly complex. The tannins were significant with a lot of acid. The finish was long with tannins and fruit. Some tasters noted that the flavors exploded with fruit and spice in the middle palate then tapered off (14% alc.).

So, overall this was a very interesting tasting. The Cahors – two from the terraces and two hilltop wines – did not disappoint. To my taste, in general, the Cahors tasted more of fruit, the Argentine Malbecs tasted more of wood and fruit. The two Argentine Malbecs we tasted were not over-oaked, as some are, so they were good choices to compare with the Cahors. Overall, this tasting has left me wanting to taste more Cahors. The flavors were more interesting without being over ripe. If we can only find more of them!

Notes from Pete:
I was really happy with the way the tasting turned out. I had only tasted one Cahors before so I wasn’t sure what to expect. I was a little afraid we might get some huge tannic wines and everyone would dislike them. Instead we had four nice wines that everyone liked. Even George, the wine shop owner who normally does the presentation, participated in the tasting without knowing which wines were being poured. He also liked the Chateau Chambert best. He had recently returned from France for the big Bordeaux tasting and while he was was there, actually tasted wines from Chateau Chambert at a tasting in Saint-Estephe.

I personally prefer the Cahors now that I have tasted them. Their flavor is much truer to the Malbec grape than the vanilla and spice you get from the Malbec from Argentina. There are some really nice Malbec from Argentina and I have had several but I have also had a lot of oak bombs. If I were looking at a wine list and wanting Malbec, if I didn’t know the wine I would just the Cahors over Argentina.

We have two more Cahors to taste ourselves, one is a 2004 La Tour Chambert, the third wine of Chateau Chambert and the other is a 2009 Mas Del Perie Les Escures which should be a bigger wine reflecting the 2009 vintage. I probably should keep the 2009 a little longer but I am anxious to see what it is like. I can always get more.

I would like to recognize and say thank you Philippe Lejeune of Chateau Chambert for all of the great help he has been in setting up this tasting. He gave me so much information on how I should do the tasting and a good explanation of why I should present the wines in a specific order. It was great to get so much local knowledge. And while his wine did turn out to be the favorite, only I knew it was in the tasting and I did not vote so it was a fair result.