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The Chateau de Gretels Prestige Cahors 2021 is a $7.99 Costco import wine and it seems to sell for about $12 in places that Costco does not serve. Cahors is a village in southwest France, the surrounding vineyards are known for growing the Malbec grape.
In recent years Malbec from Argentina has become a trendy wine. The Argentinian Malbec grapes originally came from Bordeaux, where Malbec was a significant part of the blend. The Malbec from Cahors is a different clone, the grape berries are smaller and the Malbec wines tend to be more tannic.
The Chateau de Gretels Prestige Cahors 2021 is a blend of 70% Malbec and 30% Merlot. In France, Merlot is often used to “soften” the wine. Chateau de Gretels is part of the Les Vignobles St Didier Parnac family of wines, which have vineyard holdings in both France and Argentina. On a side note “Les Vignobles” translates to “the vineyards”.
The vineyards are located on westward-facing limestone-strewn terraces off the highest plateau in the area. The vines get plenty of sunlight. The various plats are picked and fermented separately and then blended.
The wine was macerated for 20 to 30 days (maceration is where the grape skins are left in with the juice). They use natural yeast for fermentation, that is where the yeast that blows in the wind in the vineyards and adheres to the grape skins starts the fermentation process. The lees are stirred during aging, lees are when the dead yeast is left with the aging juice, and stirring the lees gives the wine a creamy texture depending on how often it is stirred. The wine was aged in French oak barrels for 12 months. The alcohol content is a balanced 13.5%.
The Chateau de Gretels Prestige Cahors 2021 Tasting Notes
The color is a deep, dark, garnet red. The nose is blackberry, herbs, black pepper, a hint of vanilla, a little ripe blueberry, strawberry, and plum. The Chateau de Gretels Prestige Cahors 2021 is soft, smooth, and tasty.
The Malbec/Merlot blend tastes like ripe, juicy blackberry, black cherry, very soft spice, vanilla, and plum. The mid-palate shows a little strawberry in cream, a slight tug from the tannins, and blueberry.
The tannins are sweet and give the wine structure, the acidity is balanced and allows the flavor to unfold.
The Summary
- The Chateau de Gretels Prestige Cahors 2021 received 90 points from James Suckling which is high praise for a wine selling for $7.99/
- If you like Malbec from Argentina, give the French version a try, it’s good.
- This is an easy-to-drink wine that works as a sipping wine or a food wine.
