La Calmette, Serpent à Plumes (red)

La Calmette, Serpent à Plumes

Malbec, Merlot

Cohers, France

“Thanks to an introduction by Mathieu Deiss, Domaine La Calmette in Cahors is easily one of the most exciting domaines we represent. But this is not your dad’s Cahors.

There are two sides to the appellation: the alluvial valley of the Lot river, and the plateaux, Causses as they are called locally. The latter is where you will find Cahors’ most captivating wines. There, the bedrock is Kimmeridgian with a top soil of clay, and there is another type of terroir, siderolithic, which is very iron-rich. Maya and Nicolas at Calmette are not alone in making great wine on the Causses. There is a gang —Fabien Jouves comes to mind immediately. In other words, Cahors from the Causses is becoming a thing and this is what this gang is showing us: With top-notch viticulture, much lighter extraction, and lower to no sulfur, the hard tannins that made this appellation so infamous are gone. A fog has lifted; behind it, is an entirely different edge, this one magnificent: the minerality, acidity, and majestically punk rock energy of Kimmeridgian bedrock. Of course, Kimmeridgian is most famous for being the bedrock of Chablis. These new Cahors, especially Maya’s and Nicolas’, are softly and beautifully infused reds with the spine of powerfully mineral white wines. They are contemporary, energetic, saline, stony, vibrant. They are VERY exciting. Then, on the siderolithic terroirs, the iron-rich clay, with its signature umami and blood, takes it to a whole other level of complexity. These are Grands Vins.

In 2016, this wine actually came from the same parcel as Bois Grand. The quantities of each variety were different: 50% Merlot, 50% Côt, and they were separated for fermentation and maceration, then blended for aging. In order to have the AOC Cahors, this wine must be at least 70% Malbec, which was not the case in the first vintage. Maya and Nicholas decided not to seek out the appellation in the following year (though they had the right to do so), preferring to keep their options open to use more Merlot in the future.

The 2020 vintage includes some declassified 2019 Butte Rouge and Bois Grand.” -Becky Wasserman