The Black Wine of France

The story of Cahors is not without tragedy however, as there have been numerous trials and tribulations along the way. In the 1880's Cahors was hit particularly hard by the great French wine blight which destroyed large areas of vineyard which needed re planting. This was further compounded in 1956 when a particularly harsh frost which necessitated almost every vineyard to start entirely from scratch. This tragedy does however come with a silver lining as it was at this point that research was done into finding the best plots in the region on which to plant the perfect grape varieties.The wines of Cahors get their unique character from careful plantings of the Malbec grape which accounts for 90% of the vineyard area and must make up a minimum of 70% of the blend. This can be supported by upto 30% of Merlot or Tannat. The result is brilliantly full bodied, heavily concentrated wines for which the region is now famous for.

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