CLOS D'AUDHUY 2020

DESCRIPTION

CLOS D'AUDHUY is the main wine of the estate. It is made from Malbec vines that are about thirty years old and the yield is controlled at 35 hl/ha.

TERROIR

The soils on which the estate's vines are planted are composed of high river terrace alluvial deposits, a soil dating from the Quaternary period (Pleistocene, -2 My to the present).
At that time, the Lot deeply cut into the Upper Jurassic limestone (-157 to -152 My ago), from Cahors to Vire, according to a cyclical rhythm characterised by four digging phases and four levels of alluvial accumulation: the low plain, the low terrace, the high terrace and the ancient alluvial deposits of very high level.

The High Terrace alluvial deposits which constitute the CLOS D'AUDHUY cuvée terroir are up to 15 metres thick in places. They are composed of gravel and quartz pebbles, mixed with a few pebbles of granitic rock packed in a clay matrix.
This formation is special because it is rubbed, i.e. red coloured by iron oxides. This phenomenon of soil rubefaction is due to the alteration of the primitive minerals of the bedrock (Upper Jurassic marls and limestones) which releases large quantities of iron.

WINEGROWING & WINEMAKING

When Benoït Aymar started his first vintage (2014), he decided to convert the vineyard to Organic Agriculture, for which the Ecocert certification was to be obtained in 2018.
Climatic hazards certainly did not allow him to obtain it, which explains why this vintage does not carry the AB label.

The grapes are harvested by hand, when the grapes are fully ripe with tannins and pips. Once destemmed, the grapes are sorted and slightly crushed.

The fermentations take place in small stainless steel vats for 25 days, where regular punching downs and pumping over are carried out in order to extract a maximum of aromas.
The must is then racked into 400-liter oak barrels for a 20-month ageing period.

The gentle extraction during the winemaking phase and the wood ageing give the wine an elegant and fine texture that is a pleasure to taste. This is a Cahors that deserves our full attention.