Cahors Cuvée “A” Château les Hauts d’Aglan
Well, I did take my own advice and opened Jean-François Hébrard’s Toro Quinta de la Quietud 2004 on Sunday. But Kate was home…and then there was that goût de trop peu…so as expected, the bottle was too small. But of course I was prepared. So I had a back up, and even though the Quietud is no easy act to follow, this sensational wine, as perfect a classic Cahors as I have ever tasted, was no less transcendent.
This is pure, unadulterated, old-vines Malbec: dark, crunchy, ripe black-cherry fruit, with clean minerality, refreshing acidity, and silky, fine-grained tannins. There is fathomless depth and compelling vitality. This Cahors comes from a three-hectare parcel of sixty year-old Malbec planted by Isabelle Rey-Auriat’s grandfather. Fewer than 100 cases were made, fermented in stainless steel, and aged for twenty-four months in cement vats. Wooden barrels would only have diminished this terrific wine.
Isabelle Rey-Auriat:
So, here’s another new producer for Moore Brothers that I couldn’t resist when her wines became available; and a sensitive, intelligent young woman, no less. (Is there a pattern emerging here?)
Isabelle Rey-Auriat is deeply committed to traditional Cahors and to Malbec, so her wines are never simple imitations of Bordeaux, like so many modern wines from the southwest of France. She is also a tireless advocate for small-farm wine growers. From 1995 until 2000 she served as President of the Vignerons Indépendants du Lot, and was a founding member and the first President of the Fédération Interdépartementale des Vignerons Indépendants de Midi-Pyrénées. In 2007 Isabelle Rey-Auriat was recognized by the Minister of Agriculture as a Chevalier dans l’Ordre National du Mérite Agricole.
This wine:
In the glass, the Cahors Cuvée “A” has a deep purple color, almost black at the center, which reminds me of the darkest violet element of a stained glass window at St. Mark’s Church. The nose unfolds slowly with warm, concentrated, ripe black cherries. On the palate, the wine is concentrated with ripe, mouth filling, croquant sweet black fruit flavors, framed by submerged, sleek round tannins. Perfectly integrated fruit acidity carries mineral flavors through an elegant, long finish. And give it time after you pour it; this is another textbook lesson on how fine wine evolves in the glass.
As always at Moore Brothers, this wine was shipped and delivered to us in refrigerated containers, so it tasted as fresh at home on Sunday with Sue’s crown roast of lamb as it tastes at the Auberge de la Tour in Sauzet, where five vintages of the Cuvée “A” are featured on the list.
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