Domaine la Calmette 'Espace Bleu Entree les Nuages' 2020 Malbec Cahors

750ml bottle

13.5% abv

A great wine for gastronomy, highly concentrated with notes of blueberry, blackberry, and fig, enriched by notes of cedar, sap, and spices. A luscious palate, with a rich mouthfeel, yet also lively, mineral-tinged acidity that promises fine ageing potential. Decanting is highly recommended.

100% certified biodynamic Malbec
Vine Age: Planted in 1981
Terroir: Kimmeridgian bedrock, reddish clay-limestone soil. Eastern exposition, at the highest elevation of the village, surrounded by forest. Drastic temperature variation between night and day.
Viticulture: Organic (AB), biodynamic methods. Guyot Poussard pruning.
Vinification: Destemmed, ambient yeast fermentation in concrete tanks. Aged 2-3 years in used oak barrels. No fining, no filtration. Minimal SO2 adjustment at bottling (10 ppm).

Young winemaking couple Maya Sallée and Nicolas Fernandez have managed to amplify the super-power of Malbec, its plush, potent fruitiness, and frame it with complex layers of spices, herbs, tea and earth. Aside from producing intensely flavorful, balanced, thoughtful and dynamic wine, Domaine la Calmette is reinvigorating an over-looked corner of France and offering up a whole new outlook on Malbec.

Two critical factors separate Calmette from its peers: the natural and biodynamic winemaking techniques, and the vineyard’s location atop the limestone plateaux known locally as Les Causses. Wherever limestone is found, the wines grown there will contain a bristling energy and intense minerality, even the full-bodied reds. Here, under the thin topsoils, the Kimmeridgian bedrock that is famed for its imprint on Chablis and Sancerre lines the region, lending these Cahors a whole different level of finesse and spark.

The vineyards are certified biodynamic and the wines are vinified only in concrete and used, neutral oak barrels. The only intervention is a micro-puff of sulfur at bottling, all that is needed to maintain the heady bouquet of wild blackberries, chili powder, dark chocolate, and blood orange.