Flavors of Lot

All about French Wines > Wines from the South-West > Cahors

The historical wine region of Cahors has long been known for its solid and tannic wines. Its famous ‘black wine’ used to be purchased by the Bordeaux merchants to add body and structure to their wines in poor vintages. The Cahors region was severely damaged by phylloxera at the end of the 19th century and by the frosts in 1956: this is why it was granted AOC status only in 1971. Since then, much has changed. Production of wine represented only 750 000 bottles in the early sixties: today, more than 25 million bottles are produced. The wine growing area has increased (to about 4 400 ha), but Cahors maintains its particular character. Its terroir is expressed through the planting of one variety only, the auxerrois (malbec) grape, which must constitute at least 70% of the blend. The rest is a small percentage of merlot and tannat. Several dynamic winemakers have understood that with discipline and know-how, malbec can produce an excellent wine, robust and generous, but still very pleasant and able to age gracefully.