Chateau de Cayx 2010 Cahors, France

Chateau de Cayx 2010.

Wine review

3 of 5 stars

A good wine

Fitting for Cahors, this wine is almost black. The dark, deep ruby hue has a drop of purple in it. Scents of dark berries and fruits, plum, blackberries and black cherries are pronounced and fresh. Forming a more developed background to the fruit, there is plenty of spice, as well as some leather and farmyard aromas. Not entirely pleasant to my nose, a certain river-stone minerality with a hint of algae or moss character is perceptible. Finally, an elegant cigar smoke aroma is revealed following an hour in a decanter.

Having a full body and very powerful, concentrated acidity as well as medium tannins, this wine has plenty of aging potential. Dark plums and black berries dominate the aromatic palate. Nevertheless, the spice and smoke are evident as well, now intertwined with chocolate and liquorice nuances. Tannin quality is round and velvety already now in 2015. The spicy finish is medium length and pleasant. Although there is interesting aromatic complexity, an abundance of fruit and mostly pleasant tannin, the balance of this wine steers somewhat to the bitter and acidic side. Bottle age will integrate the structure further and show the potential of this still relatively young wine.

Aromatically complex and high in acid this wine would benefit from pairing with acidic foods as well as aromatic dark meat dishes, for example game or lamb with herbs. Decanting is good idea as there might be some deposit.

A good, concentrated, quality Malbec from Cahors.

Info in a nutshell

Price examples:

DKK 175 (EUR 24)  webshop vildmedvin.dk (ships also abroad)

DKK 170 wine shop Vinspecialisten, Copenhagen, Denmark

Country and region: Cahors, France

Grape: Malbec 100%

Alc vol: 14,5%

Producer: Chateau de Cayx

Background

Fascinatingly, Chateau de Cayx is owned by His Royal Highness Prince Henrik of Denmark.  Considering this and the fact that I’m an admirer of boldly structured wines, I could not resist this particular Cahors Malbec when I ran into it. The wine-merchant told me that HRH Prince Henrik has developed the chateau significantly during the recent years, aiming at excellent quality. A highly skilled enologist and winemaker has been brought in and the vineyards have been replanted.

Cahors is historically known for its black wine, or vin noir de Lot - Lot being synonymous for Malbec. Eventhough Cahors wines are not made by evaporating water from the Malbec juice anymore, and hence are not black, still a minimum of 70% of Malbec is required for Cahors AOC. Small percentages of Merlot and Tannat are often blended to Malbec to make these wines more approachable. They benefit from bottle age due to Malbec’s high tannin and acidity, and can be quite tight when opened too early. Chateau de Cayx 2010, however, is made of 100% Malbec.