Wine Review: Eulalie Cahors 2010 (French Malbec)
Wine Review: Eulalie Cahors 2010 (French Malbec)
Producer: Chateau de Cenac
Grape: Malbec (Auxerrois or cot)
Vintage: 2010
ABV: 12.5 %
Price: $25-$30
Overview:
Up until this Eulalie Cahors’s bottle, I’d never had French Malbec, and as a big fan of Argentine Malbec, I was very excited. I had high hopes, and they were surpassed as is usual with French wine. This Cahors Malbec from Chateau de Cenac was nearly as rich as the region’s history. Deep cherry, chocolate, and the general mouthfeel and style that screams “French wine”. Cahors wine is also referred to as “Black Wine” due to its extremely dark purple color.
The Area:
Cahors can be found in southwestern France. The city, and the surrounding region, have a very rich history. It has been home to a variety of people such as the Cadurci people, the Romans, the Visigoths, the Umayyads, the Moors, and finally the early Franks. It has also been home to different industries and markets since the 700’s. Cahors’s wine history dates to the Roman Empire where they were known for their “black wines”, but the region has been known for Malbec since the mid 19th century.
Modern-day Cahors is relatively young as an official wine appellation, having only been officially recognized since 1971. Despite this, they are still producing world-class wine and maintain their deep, rich history. The region is only allowed to produce red wine and must use at least 70% Malbec with Tannat and Merlot being the only others accepted. The region is known for having a moderate, Mediterranean-like climate with mild temperatures, low and flat elevation, and the perfect amount of rain and sunshine.
The Grape:
Today, Malbec is largely known for its Argentine varietal. This makes sense when you consider that Cahors is one of the only French regions that produce single varietal Malbec. Malbec has a wide range of styles and flavor profiles, and this is evident when comparing Cahors’ Malbec and Argentine Malbec. For this review, I am going to focus on the former. This region’s Malbec and wine in general is known for being extremely rich, deep, and velvety.
Nose:
For it being French, it is very fruit-forward. Not to say French wines are never overly fruit-forward, it just isn’t what I’m used to in French wine. There is an undertone of dark, sweet cherry with bright hints of cherry quickly appearing then dissipating. There were also hints of rich milk chocolate.
Tongue:
Many of the notes come over from the nose to the tongue, but they are not as vibrant and intense with the dark cherry being the most prevalent in this area. This isn’t a bad thing, though, as it just contributes to the more elegant leanings found in many French wines. As the wine opens up more, small hints of chocolate and baking spices come out and eventually balance out the dark fruits.
The body was full with plenty of depth and flavor, though not overly jammy.
Final Notes:
This was my introduction to French Malbec, so I went in with my only comparisons being Argentine Malbec and other French wine. I found similarities between both, though it was still its own, unique bottle of wine. It was a nice adventure with Malbec and also provided some comforting familiarity with some of the regional French characteristics.
