20 - Martines Wines - Chateau du Cedre - Malbec - 'Cahors du Cedre' - Cahors, - 2022

Notes on the Producer

Léon Verhaeghe is born in the small town of Moorslede in the Flemish region of Belgium. When WW1 is declared in 1914 and the country is annexed, Léon is among the millions of Belgians who flee. He travels through France by bicycle and takes refuge in the Lot. Later, his son, Charles Verhaeghe, meets Marie-Thérèse Rives, whose family owns a traditional multi-crop farm in Vire-sur-Lot. While cultivating the land and his love for it, he develops a growing desire to expand the scope of his practice. He watches with fascination as some of his neighbours transform their grapes: his project is clear. He too wants to produce his own wine. The couple continue their multi-crop farming activities and plant their first hectare of vines alongside the lavender in 1958. This piece of land, characterised by limestone scree cones, forms part of the great terroir we know today. 1973 sees the result of all the hard work. Self-taught, Charles and Marie Thérèse Verhaeghe carry out their first wine bottling, alongside their usual distillation of lavender. When Charles is diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 1987, the work becomes too difficult. His sons, Pascal and Jean-Marc, decide to return to the estate to help him. Pascal, trained in viticulture and winemaking at Jean-Marie Guffens and then in Napa Valley, and Jean-Marc, a graduate of La Tour Blanche in Sauternes, have the necessary knowledge and desire to manage the vineyard. Working in synergy, they inject their enthusiasm into the business and constantly experiment. Quality becomes the absolute priority. With this common goal, they share the work: Jean-Marc makes cultivating the vines his speciality and Pascal devotes himself to making, maturing, and marketing the wine. In fifteen years, they take Château du Cèdre to the top of the Cahors appellation. Today, they are still pioneering, supported by an excellent team. Pascal’s sons Jules and Robin have joined the family business, bringing a new dynamic to the estate. The vineyard’s three parcels have the best two soil types in the Cahors appellation area. One of parcels is established on a cone of limestone scree, on the hillsides of Bru. The quaternary ice-age broke down the limestone sides surrounding this plot of land. Over the centuries, these scree slopes have created the soil of today. The grapes from this rare terroir are characterised by great finesse and aromatic complexity. The other two parcels are located on two distinct, though geologically identical, ridges. These are the Mindel high terraces, formed 500,000 years ago from the river’s alluvial deposits. This soil is made of rolled pebbles mixed with reddish ferruginous sand on the surface, while clay and silica dominate the deeper levels. The grapes from this terroir are characterised by a great richness and density. The specific micro-climate at Chateau de Cèdre has a lot of influence on its terroir. At equal distance from the Atlantic Ocean, The Pyrenees Mountains and the Mediterranean Sea, the climate is oceanic until June then Mediterranean from the month of July. In September, the river Lot cools the air, and the autumn wind blows across the vines.

Our objective is to exploit the full potential of our grapes. To achieve this, no oenological inputs are used during the vinification process. Wine production is carried out with indigenous yeasts and without added sulphites.
As a result of these choices, we have observed finer tannins and greater aromatic complexity.
This way or working requires technical skill. The grapes are perfectly ripe and healthy. The hygiene of the cellar is rigorous. Fermentation starts quickly using the pieds de cuve technique and is completed in the best possible conditions: temperatures are controlled to provide the yeasts with the ideal environment for their development.
As with the vinification process, our wines are matured without oenological input. Control is crucial, because Malbec is a grape variety with character, which requires time.
The wines mature on the lees in large containers, 500-litre barrels, and foudres. They evolve freely in ideal conditions of temperature and hygrometry.

Our thinking on organic agriculture began in the early 1990s. We stopped using chemical weedkillers in 1992 and ten years later we abandoned synthetic plant protection products altogether. In 2012, we were certified as organic.
To preserve microbiological life and minimise soil compaction, the vineyards are grassed between rows and we work with straddle tractors. The various tasks such as pruning, thinning-out, de-budding, lifting, leaf removal and green harvesting are all still carried out by hand.
Every year we analyse the branches and the soil from the three vineyards. These results, supported by our own observations, enable us to better understand the relationship between the plant and the soil and ensure balance for the vines.
Great wines generally come from old vines. Our viticultural practices are therefore primarily aimed at keeping these precious old vines in production. However, their life expectancy is not eternal. Each year, we work to replace the vines one by one, as they disappear.