How to spot Cahors Malbec from blind tasting? Experience shared by Lin Liu MW.

“Sunday April 17th is International Malbec Day, so to mark the occasion we’re looking back to 2021 when Lin Liu MW presented some outstanding Cahors wines from her adopted region at the Austrian Wine Academy.

Included in the line up were wines from Clos Troteligotte, Château du Cedre, Georges Vigouroux – Château de Haute-Serre, Paul Bertrand – Crocus, Château Les Croisille, Cosse Maisonneuf and Château de Chambert. Vinified in a variety of ways and displaying a wide range of styles, these wonderful wines were part of a masterclass in which Lin shared her personal experience of blind tasting Cahors. Malbec is a very versatile grape variety, and wines from Cahors have sometimes been mis-identified as having their origins in Bordeaux, the Rhône valley, Ribera del Duero or even… Italy. One thing is for sure: to categorise the wines of Cahors as “black” (referring to the deep, dark purple hue traditionally associated with this region’s production) is to over-simplify the case.

(Disclaimer: Château de Chambert is owned by Lin Liu’s partner, Philippe Lejeune).