Cahors () is a red

wine Wine is an alcoholic drink typically made from Fermentation in winemaking, fermented grapes. Yeast in winemaking, Yeast consumes the sugar in the grapes and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Different ...

made from grapes grown in or around the town of

Cahors Cahors (; oc, Caors ) is a commune in the western part of Southern France. It is the smallest prefecture among the 13 departments that constitute the Occitanie Region. The main city of the Lot department and the historical center of the Que ...

in the Lot department of southern

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. Cahors is an ''

Appellation d'origine contrôlée An appellation is a legally defined and protected geographical indication primarily used to identify where the grapes for a wine were grown, although other types of food often have appellations as well. Restrictions other than geographical bo ...

'' (AOC) (Controlled designation of origin) associated with part of the South West France wine-region. The dominant grape variety in AOC Cahors wines,

Malbec Malbec () is a purple grape variety used in making red wine. The grapes tend to have an inky dark color and robust tannins, and are known as one of the six grapes allowed in the blend of red Bordeaux wine. In France, plantations of Malbec are n ...

(known locally as "Auxerrois” or "Côt") must make up a minimum of 70% of the wine. Winemakers may supplement the Malbec with up to 30%

Merlot Merlot is a dark blue–colored wine grape variety, that is used as both a blending grape and for varietal wines. The name ''Merlot'' is thought to be a diminutive of ''merle'', the French name for the blackbird, probably a reference to the ...

and/or

Tannat Tannat is a red wine grape, historically grown in South West France in the Madiran AOC, and is now one of the most prominent grapes in Uruguay, where it is considered the "national grape". Tannat is also grown in Argentina, Australia, Brazi ...

. Marketers may use the designation ''AOC Cahors'' only for red wines - they distribute the white and rosé wine produced in the same area under the designation ''

Vin de Pays ''Vin de pays'' (, "country wine") was a French wine classification that was above the '' vin de table'' classification, but below the ''appellation d'origine contrôlée'' (AOC) classification and below the former ''vin délimité de qualité s ...

du Lot'' instead. Cahors vineyards comprise , with a planting density of at least 4000 vines per hectare. Today's wine-growing area lies mainly west of the town of Cahors. The most important places are Mercuès, Parnac, Luzech,

Prayssac Prayssac (; oc, Praissac) is a commune in the Lot department in south-western France. Population Notable people *Birthplace of Jean-Baptiste Bessières, Duke of Istrie See also *Communes of the Lot department The following is a list of t ...

, Grézels, Puy-l'Éveque and

Vire sur Lot Vire-sur-Lot (, literally ''Vire on Lot''; oc, Vira) is a commune in the Lot department in south-western France. See also *Communes of the Lot department The following is a list of the 313 communes An intentional community is a volunt ...

- all located in the valley of the Lot river.

History

The history of Cahors

winemaking Winemaking or vinification is the production of wine, starting with the selection of the fruit, its fermentation into alcohol, and the bottling of the finished liquid. The history of wine-making stretches over millennia. The science of wine and ...

goes back to the era of

Ancient Rome In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to Roman people, Roman civilisation from the founding of the city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingdom ...

, with vines being planted in the area around 50 BC. Since that time, the vines have remained in the land of

Quercy Quercy (; oc, Carcin , locally ) is a former province of France located in the country's southwest, bounded on the north by Limousin, on the west by Périgord and Agenais, on the south by Gascony and Languedoc, and on the east by Rouergue and ...

and their history has been combined with that of the region. The region of Cahors enjoyed a great reputation from the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

until the late 19th century. Its "black wine" was sold shipped from England to Russia. Similar to many other winemaking regions, Cahors was hit badly by The

Great French Wine Blight The Great French Wine Blight was a severe blight of the mid-19th century that destroyed many of the vineyards in France and laid waste to the wine industry. It was caused by an aphid that originated in North America and was carried across the A ...

in the late 19th century, when the vines were attacked in the

phylloxera Grape phylloxera is an insect pest of commercial grapevines worldwide, originally native to eastern North America. Grape phylloxera (''Daktulosphaira vitifoliae'' (Fitch 1855) belong to the family Phylloxeridae, within the order Hemiptera, bu ...

epidemic. In the case of Cahors, this happened in 1883-1885. In February 1956, Cahors was hit by frosts which wiped out almost all the vineyards of the region, which thus needed to be replanted ''en masse''. In this replanting, Malbec became more dominant than it had been before. Cahors was awarded AOC status in 1971. Since 2007, the UIVC (Interprofessional Wine Union of Cahors) has developed an association with Wines of Argentina, the agency in charge of promoting

Argentine wine Argentina is the fifth largest producer of wine in the world.H. Johnson & J. Robinson ''The World Atlas of Wine'' pg 300-301 Mitchell Beazley Publishing 2005 Argentine wine, as with some aspects of Argentine cuisine, has its roots in Spain. Du ...

s at an international level. The same agency originally created

World Malbec Day Malbec World Day is an annual observance celebrated on April 17, to commemorate the day on which President Domingo Faustino Sarmiento of Argentina officially made it his mission to transform Argentina's wine industry. On April 17, 1853, Sarmiento ta ...

, which is celebrated on the 17th of April every year.

Soils and climate

Most of the vineyards are located on the

gravel Gravel is a loose aggregation of rock fragments. Gravel occurs naturally throughout the world as a result of sedimentary and erosive geologic processes; it is also produced in large quantities commercially as crushed stone. Gravel is classifi ...

terraces within the meanders formed by the river Lot. The lowest terrace is too close to the river and therefore not suitable for

viticulture Viticulture (from the Latin word for '' vine'') or winegrowing (wine growing) is the cultivation and harvesting of grapes. It is a branch of the science of horticulture. While the native territory of '' Vitis vinifera'', the common grape vine, r ...

; vineyards have only been established on the second, third, and fourth terraces. There is increasing interest in the plateau (technically the fourth terrace) for viticulture called "Les Causses". The climate of Cahors is mainly influenced by the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

, with hot summers and wet winters. In contrast to

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefectu ...

, it also is influenced by the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on ...

. The river Lot is an important factor for the

microclimate A microclimate (or micro-climate) is a local set of atmospheric conditions that differ from those in the surrounding areas, often with a slight difference but sometimes with a substantial one. The term may refer to areas as small as a few squ ...

in the vineyards, especially as the nearby

Massif Central The (; oc, Massís Central, ; literally ''"Central Massif"'') is a highland region in south-central France, consisting of mountains and plateaus. It covers about 15% of mainland France. Subject to volcanism that has subsided in the last 10,0 ...

may occasionally cause severe frost in winter.

Wineries

Wineries include Château Rouffiac, Château Bovila, Clos de Gamot, Château de Haute-Serre, Mas del périé Fabien Jouves, Château de Mercuès, Clos La Coutale, Château La Caminade, Château de Lagrézette, Château Saint-Didier-Parnac, Château Haut-Monplaisir, Château Famaey, Château Chambert and Château Lacapelle Cabanac.

Kagor wine

Kagor is a

Moldovan wine Moldova has a well-established wine industry. With a production of around 2 million hectolitres of wine (as of 2018), it is the 11th largest European wine-producing country. Moldova has a vineyard area of of which are used for commercial produ ...

made from

Cabernet Sauvignon Cabernet Sauvignon () is one of the world's most widely recognized red wine grape varieties. It is grown in nearly every major wine producing country among a diverse spectrum of climates from Australia and British Columbia, Canada to Lebanon ...

References

{{Wines South West France AOCs