Cahors: Malbec roadtrip part 2: Châteaux du Cayrou, Famaey, Métairie Grande du Théron, Latuc

Cahors: special wine touring report now available

You can get my special Cahors wine touring supplement as a PDF file, featuring all three parts of my Malbec roadtrip trilogy posted on French Mediterranean Wine earlier this year, plus bonus winery profiles from this exciting region of southwest France (and any of my other recent in-depth features produced in this format). Yours condensed into a neat 17 page mini-mag PDF delivered by email, either when you subscribe to both my blogs for just £10 (about $16 or €12) a year, or buy it for £2.50 on its own - these specials are not free2view. Click on the title link above to find the PayPal buttons!

You'll find a snippet of "the first tantalizing installment reporting from once-upon-a-time a little downtrodden but now groovy again Cahors, in deepest southwest France ("home of Malbec" as it likes to dub itself)..." featuring these wine estates here: Cahors: Malbec roadtrip part 1, Château Les Croisille - Château Combel La Serre - Château Tour de Miraval. My further adventures of 'desperately seeking Malbec' in Cahors continue, rather belatedly, with a wine touring report of Château du Cayrou, Château Famaey, La Métairie Grande du Théron and Château Latuc. Plus another restaurant tip in the middle of lovely nowhere...

Château du Cayrou (meaning gravel or stone) is a handsome yet understated affair (pic.  above, I wouldn't want to guess how much his roof maintenance costs though) in that typically 17th Century French country estate style; not as grand and show-off-y as Bordeaux, more workmanlike than a regal old town mansion, but plenty of it all in big stone nevertheless. The backdrop to my Facebook page did also feature a (not bad) shot of a beautiful old chunky "150 to 200 year-old" cedar tree in front of a curious round-tower outbuilding, lying off this photo rotating right of the chateau. Anyway, you'll come across Cayrou near Puy-L'Evêque and the estate has been owned by Georges Douin for four years now. Incidentally, Georges has been converting over to organics since he took over, so 'official certification' will be appearing on their labels soon. He farms 22 out of 30 ha (55 acres) of vines, split about 90/10 Malbec/Merlot with a little Tannat in "some of the other parcels... on the flat land leading into the winery." Georges chose not to cultivate these and preferred to rent out another seven hectares "on gravel and clay terraces" instead, to have consistent terrain across his vineyards. "The amount of stones is important," he explained, "the more the better to limit vine and grass growth," although he likes to "leave the natural grass cover all year around..."

Get the full report to read on!

A taster of the final part of my Malbec-tastic Cahors trilogy is HERE featuring Haute-Serre, La Caminade, Armandière, La Capelle Cabanac, La Bérangeraie, Vino Valie, Clos Troteligotte and Les Bouysses, peppered with more wine travel tips including the 'Malbec Lounge' in pretty Cahors town itself...