Château du Cèdre, Extra Libre, Malbec, Cahors, France 2019

Brothers Pascal and Jean-Marc Verhaeghe bring a welcome refinement to the wines of picturesque Cahors, located about an hour and a half east of Bordeaux. The Verhaeghe vineyards were founded in the 1950s by Léon Verhaeghe, who had moved to the Lot region from his native Belgium a few years previously. His son Charles began making wines at Château du Cèdre in the 1970s and was a pioneer in that he planted vines on the poor stony soils of the Cahors appellation, at a time when most wines were mass produced. Since 1988, third generation Pascal and Jean-Marc have continued in the same vein, perfecting the approach with their meticulous work in the vineyard and the cellar.

In 2000, the use of herbicides and chemicals were banned, and the estate was certified organic in 2012. Cahors wines are made predominantly from Malbec and known for being powerful, rich and dark. Pascal and Jean-Marc build on these terroir-driven qualities to produce wines that are very polished and remarkably balanced, utilizing long ageing periods in oak barrels and 57HL casks,. These wines are quite approachable when young, as well as age exceptionally well.

Their meticulous approach and time honored traditon produces wines that are focused and concentrated, long and elegant, truly capturing the beautiful Lot terroir. Today, the fourth generation, Pascal’s sons Jules and Robin, have joined the family estate, bringing a new momentum for the future.

VINEYARDS & VITICULTURE
The 27-hectare vineyard is planted on three parcels. Numerous passes are made in the vineyard to ensure the perfect health, quality, and ripeness of the grapes, and all the work is carried out by hand as, since 1992, no chemicals have been used. The grapes from Extra Libre come from 30+-year-old, estate vines primarily from the 1st and 3rd terraces within Cahors, as well as the plateau with limestone. The largest plot (12.5 hectares), consists of colluvial limestone; the two other plots (5.5 hectares and 7.5 hectares) are a mixture of pebble stones and ferruginous red sands on the top and siliceous earth and clay on the bottom.

SOILS
Colluvial limestone; pebble stones with ferruginous red sands and siliceous earth/clay

HARVEST & VINIFICATION
Manually harvested, then sorted in the vineyards, the grapes are destemmed upon arrival in the cellar. Macerated and fermented for 30 days with daily punching down of the skin cap, followed by malolactic fermentation in concrete tanks. The wine is then barrel-aged for 12 months (barrels used twice). No added sulfur.