In something of a theme for this selection, restricted port access has also conspired against the region of Cahors’ international recognition. There is ample historical proof of the quality of Cahors: praise for the ancient wine of Cahors can be found in the Odes of Horace and in Virgil’s poems and during the middle ages it was the wine of the nobility in Aquitaine under Eleanor of Aquitaine, King Louis VII, King Henry II, Richard the Lionheart and King John. Cahors (kah-OR) wines long commanded higher prices than the wines from Bordeaux, but as Bordeaux was usually under separate political rule and as the Lot River is a tributary of the Garonne River, access to export for Cahors wine was at the mercy, or lack thereof, of the Bordelaise. Even so, it wasn’t until phylloxera wiped out the vineyards of Cahors that the total size of vineyards became truly small, going from 40,000 hectares to less than 4,000. (Bordeaux is currently around 110,000 hectares). Once the most planted Bordeaux grape, Merlot took Malbec’s place once the phylloxera-defying technique of grafting European vines onto American rootstock was proven successful, because later budding Merlot was less susceptible to frost and more disease resistant. Cahor is now the only region in France to feature the Malbec grape as the intense Summer daytime heat, cool nights and limestone soils are uniquely suited to making excellent Malbecs that are quite distinct from the fruit driven Argentine versions grown on alluvial soils. Vigneron Laurent Marre grew up in Cahors in a family with a long history in the hospitality industry, and after striking out on his own with a wine bar and wine wholesaling business in Paris, Laurent was able to realize a lifelong dream of making wine in his home region beginning in 2017. The parcel he acquired in the high plateau portion of Cahors, where the wines are acknowledged to be more age-worthy, have been farmed biodynamically for over 20 years and ‘Les Calades’ refers to the pebbly nature of the soils in the vineyard. Aged in a combination of amphorae, oak tanks and old barrels, the focus is centered on the fruit. The wine displays the characteristic dark purple color that creates what the name Malbec refers to: the stained “bad mouth” one gets when drinking it. Initial blackberry, raspberry, red cherry flavors resolve into blueberry and violet notes after a bit of time on your palate with the lightly drying tannins, moderate palate weight and a long finish. Sharp cheeses, salamis, braised red meats and roasted herb poultry would pair beautifully.