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Two top table wines from Cahors

On my recent trip to France, I came across an old copy of the Revue du Vin de France (from October 2009) which happened to include a review of Cahors wines. I'll come straight to the boast: two of the wines on our list occupied the top two spots (I know you're not surprised KW!)

Which two?

Both scored 18/20 but I don't know whether there were fractional points separating them or whether they were just listed alphabetically - the two wines were, of course, Chateau du Cedre's 2005 "Le Cedre" and Chateau Lamartine's 2007 "Expression".

So, time for me to re-taste them (now that the antibiotics have all gone) - I think I will try the Lamartine first as I haven't had this recently so that makes it a good place to start. It is fully flavoured, as you would expect from a wine that has undergone a long maceration, but well balanced and the fruit is not over-powering as it so often is in its New World contemporaries. A modest 13.5% alcohol, according to the bottle - manageable. Some oak comes across but the fruit is holding the whole thing together well. Really rather good!

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