This year's Decanter World Wine Awards Regional Trophy for Red Regional France over £15 went to Château Chevaliers Lagrézette, Cahors 2011 (14.1%)
Tasted against:
- Château Montus, Madiran 2009
- Château Pineraie, L’Authentique, Cahors 2012
Profile:
Chateau Lagrezette, a famous name in Cahors, is more than 500 years old, but has been owned since 1980 by Alain Dominique Perrin, who has restored the dilapidated estate, employed Michel Rolland as a consultant, overhauled the vineyards and installed a high-tech cellar.
This Trophy-winner is actually Lagrézette’s second wine, and in 2011 some 40,000 bottles were produced. Made from vines that are on average 15 years old, it’s a blend of 88% Malbec and 12% Merlot. All grapes are handpicked and once fermented spend 14 months in barrel, 10% of which are new and the rest one or two years’ used.
Managing director Claude Boudamani, who has worked at Mähler-Besse in Bordeaux and François Lurton’s properties in Argentina, says: ‘We seek through our Malbec to express the minerality and the elegance of the soil. We work on each parcel to give elegant and mineral wines without compromise.
‘The Lagrézette footprint is defined by three distinct terroirs with a dominance of Kimmeridgian clay,’ he adds. ‘These, plus our sensitive cultivation of the soils, together with hard-earned savoir-faire, harvesting at optimum maturity and the innovative redesign of our cellars in 2011, spells nirvana for Malbec.’
Written by Decanter
