A little more from Cahors: Chateau du Cèdre “Le Prestige” 2004
Posted on May 9th, 2008
Saved in Red wine, Sour Grapes recommends, Wine, €15-€20
Chateau du Cèdre, “Le Prestige”, Verhaeghe et Fils, 2004, 13.5% ABV
Picked up this wine from Fallon & Byrne for €18.95 two months ago and while I’m not one for “laying down” wine, I’ve only just got around to opening it
How did the Chateau du Cèdre go down?
- Looks: deep dark purple ink
- Smells: fruits of the forest with a bit of a farmyardy-mushroomy-tree bark thing going on too
- Tastes: Great burst of blackberry juice followed by a a velvety smooth tannins which begin to dry out the mouth towards the end. While the tannins are noticeable and it’s definitely a heavy-bodied wine, it’s much more “balanced” (see below) than the Clos Triguedina I had a couple of weeks ago. Still, the moisture sucking tannins could soften a bit with a few more years “laying down” (explanation below).
- Verdict: delicious, and one I’d recommend heartily, particularly to Elke over at the Dine & Wine club in Cork who found the Clos Triguedina too much. While it may get better with a few more years, it’s excellent now, so open it up.
- Grapes: 90% Malbec, 10% Tannat
What does a “balanced” wine mean?
A balanced wine is one in which no one particular component stands out and overshadows the others. Where the Clos Triguedina was completely dominated by tannins, this has a bit of everything all in harmony.
What does laying down a wine mean?
Laying down means putting your wine away for a couple of years to chill out and relax. It should generally be:
- stored on it’s side, to keep the wine in contact with the cork (stops it drying out, shrinking and letting the air in),
- kept away from wild fluctuations in heat and vibrations.
- kept away from strong light
Where? It can be under the stairs, the bottom of the wardrobe, or in a purpose built wine cellar which you can show off to your friends while you all look at the bottles sitting there and talk about how they’ll develop over the years.
Much more from Cahors…
- See all my posts on wine from Cahors
- Visit frenchmalbec.com, a website devoted exclusively to the Malbec-based wines of Cahors.
- Look at a great GV WLTV episode on Cahors
- Get some extra background on the Chateau du Cèdre from thewinedoctor.com
[...] with BBQ Season. If there’s a chink of sunshine before winter, I’ll be popping open a nice rich Cahors - something with enough gritty tannins to cope with the nicely charred BBQ [...]
Yep, I love the rustic reds from Cahors, too.
Click on my name and check out my wine label collection from that region.