Château du Cèdre

The Château du Cèdre, located in the Cahors appellation, is run by brothers Pascal and Jean-Marc Verhaeghe. The estate was founded in 1973 by Léon Verhaeghe, then developed by his son Charles. Today, under the management of Pascal and Jean-Marc (recently joined by Pascal's son Jules), the estate covers around 27 hectares, with almost 25 hectares planted with red grapes, mainly Malbec (also known as Cot or Auxerrois), complemented by Merlot, Tannat, as well as a small area of white grapes such as Viognier, Semillon, Muscadelle and Sauvignon Blanc.

The vineyard is based on the Cahors appellation.

The vineyard rests on two main types of soil: on the one hand, a cone of limestone scree, very stony and unstable, which produces wines of great finesse and remarkable tension; on the other, clay-silica terraces rich in pebbles and ferruginous sand, which produce more powerful and deep vintages . This dual terroir profile, coupled with an oceanic climate prolonged by Mediterranean influences in summer, gives the grapes a perfect balance between fresh acidity and aromatic ripeness

The Château du Cèdre began its transition to organic farming in the early 1990s, abandoning chemical weeding as early as 1992 and eradicating synthetic phytosanitary products in the early 2000s. Official organic certification was obtained in 2012. The soil is grassed in the inter-rows, worked using straddlers and maintained manually in the vast majority of winegrowing gestures, including harvesting, pruning, de-budding, debudding, lifting and leaf removal

Each plot is subjected to vine shoot and soil analysis, and a program of replanting old vines is implemented year after year via plot complantation to maintain the vitality of old vines

Winemaking at Château du Cèdre is deeply focused on respect for fruit and terroir. Fermentations are carried out with indigenous yeasts, extraction is gentle with a 30-35 day cuvaison and temperature is controlled below 28°C. No oenological inputs are added during fermentation, and the wine is aged for 18 to 22 months in 57 hl tuns or 500-liter barrels made up of one-third new wood, one-third one-wine barrels and one-third two-wine barrels, without filtration at bottling and with a very moderate dosage of sulfur . Since 2014, the Extra Libre range offers the same parcels vinified without added sulfur, aged on lees for at least 12 months, sometimes up to 24 months.

The Château du Cèdre Cahors AOC cuvée is composed of 90% Malbec, 5% Merlot and 5% Tannat. It expresses an intense nose of black fruits, licorice and spices, followed by a straightforward, fresh palate endowed with crisp tannins, with a smoky finish underscored by floral nuances of undergrowth or violets . Long barrel ageing gives the wine fatness and smoothness, while retaining great tannic and aromatic freshness

Juveniles is made from the estate's young vines, a supple, fruity red from malbec.

The Le Cèdre range is a more concentrated selection from historic plots, vinified with the same care but with greater density, offering deeper expression and extended ageing potential.

The GC (Grand Cèdre) cuvée is an even rarer wine, made from very limited selections of old vines planted on the best terraces. This bottle achieves a level of concentration, finesse and length comparable to the greatest terroirs of Cahors

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The Extra Libre range features all the major cuvées in a natural version, with no added sulfur. The result is purer vinification, straighter, more vibrant and more digestible aromatic profiles, while retaining the structural complexity of the estate's great cuvées

The Château du Cèdre is regularly praised by reference guides. The main cuvée was awarded 92/100 by Wine Enthusiast for the 2018 vintage, and 93/100 by the Guide des Meilleurs Vins de France for the 2020 vintage. The estate's reputation is built on consistent quality and a coherent vision, where terroir, exacting cultivation standards and sobriety in the cellar translate into expressive, long-lasting wines

Discover other great organic wines from the Southwestwith the Domaine Labranche-Laffond, Camin Larredya, the Domaine Elian Da Ros, the Clos Thou, the domaine Julien Auroux or the Château Combel la Serre.