WINE OF THE WEEK: Prieuré de Cénac Cahors Malbec 2023, Cahors, France

£16.95–£18.95, Aitken's, Jarrolds, Raffles Fine Wines, The Fine Wine Co, Strictly Wine, Great Wines Direct, Blanco & Gomez

Could the red wines of Cahors finally be having a moment in the UK? I hope so. It feels long overdue. In the last 11 years I've chosen five Cahors as Wine of the Week and three of them, including this latest, have been this year. And all three have been shoo-ins for the slot.

Before anyone steps in demanding disclosure, here it is. I love this part of southwest France. I have been coming to the same house not far from Cahors for the last 50 years (as owner for the past 35). But I have never had any commercial involvement with the region or any of its wineries, except as a member of The Wine Gang (defunct since Covid) when we did some tasting for the southwest wines generic organisation, as we did for other regions.

I love the wines now, but I didn’t always. And it’s not because they’ve grown on me, but because they’ve changed – greatly for the better. I can remember when most were drily, toughly tannic. Some came round eventually, but many had lost their fruit by the time the tannins had mellowed.

Then there was a period when producers were urged to soften the Malbec by adding Merlot. Some Merlot can be good in some Cahors, but it was being overdone and Cahors was starting to lose its identity.

Now, though, Cahors wine is in a happy place and has been for more than a decade, even if weather events – frost, extreme heat and drought – have been becoming ever more brutal.

Let’s move on to the organically farmed, sustainable Prieuré de Cénac Cahors Malbec 2023, a wine from the Causse, the distinctive limestone plateau overlooking the snaking River Lot, where clay soils are rich in iron and manganese.

The aromas are classic Causse Malbec – blackberry and graphite with a top-note of violets and delicately refreshing leafy-herb. The palate is chalk-smooth and sleek with gentle grip, dark fruit, inky richness and mineral and herb freshness. It’s perfect to drink now or anytime over the next eight or so years.

The producer is Les Vignobles Saint-Didier Parnac, which was bought by Hervé Joyaux Fabre with his wife Diane (and associates) in 2017. At the time the Bordeaux-born multi-award-winning Hervé was better known for his Fabre Montmayou Malbecs from Argentina. Now he’s renowned for Malbec from both continents.

Unsurprisingly Prieuré de Cénac Cahors Malbec is a wine for the local specialities: duck in many forms – confit, magret, smoked breast, friton (similar to rillettes but less fatty and coarser textured) and lamb (locally from the limestone Causse). You can equally well pair it, Argentina-style, with steak, including with a slick of chimichurri or salsa verde, but it doesn’t demand meat. It makes a very good accompaniment to a wide-ranging vegetarian meze. 13.5%. Empty bottle weight: 510g

Prieuré de Cénac Cahors Malbec 2023, Cahors, France

£16.95, Aitken’s, £17, Jarrolds, £18.95, Raffles Fine Wines. For 66:  £90.95, The Fine Wine Co, £97.26, Strictly Wine, £111.24, Great Wines Direct, £134, Blanco & Gomez

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