By now, you should know my preference
for the AOP Cahors and my love for Malbec. The Quercy region takes its name
from the Latin quercus or oak and they still mark the landscape with their
abundant growth.
Besides naming the region and pacifying (?) it, the Romans
already planted vines in the 1st century and soon the region became
so renowned for its wines that in 92 AD the emperor Domitian ordered the
vineyards to be destroyed because they competed too much with Italian wine.
Luckily, his orders weren't followed to the letter! Domitian himself suffered
assassination in 96 and died from repeated stabbings in the groin
(cf.Suetonius). Painful!
But back to the wine. We just tasted
Stanton Black - 2006 made by Kim-Louis and Lisa Stanton from their 10 hectare Domaine des Sangliers in Puy-L’Evèque in the department
Lot (46). Puy-L’Evèque lies on the meandering shores of the Lot and boasts some
of the best terroirs of this AOP.
I bought the bottle from Lisa on a
sunny Friday morning at the market in Preyssac where they usually have a stall.
As it traveled all the way home, we allowed it to rest a while before opening.
First impression: there is a lot of
pleasure for a mere 12€ in this 75cl bottle!
In the glass, the wine has a
beautiful, dark-red, clear and shiny hue, the nose is predominantly dark red
fruit and the taste is incredibly fresh, fruity and young even though it is 100% Malbec (besides Malbec, the AOP allows up to 30% Merlot and/or Tannat). But no
harshness here, no tongue abrasion! Tannins have perfectly melted down; there is only the slightest taste of
vanilla from the 18 months ageing and it takes its mineral freshness from the
limestone of the Causses and from, I guess, not too old vines.
From 2006, this cuvée is now ready to drink
and will probably stay so another 3-5 years or more. We opened this bottle to
accompany the most rustic of Flemish dishes: black sausage - boudin noir in
French - (for lack of a better word and because black pudding is something
different!) with red cabbage (yes, with red cabbage, onions, apple, orange
juice, red wine, vinegar and a stalk of cinnamon, brown sugar, pepper and
salt!) and boiled potatoes. My, oh my, was this good!
The predilection of course, would be
to open the Stanton Black over a magret de canard, confit d’oie, or any dish
involving the local black truffles or a good cut of beef from Salers (although
the locals might prefer the Blanche d’Aquitaine). I myself would drink nothing
else with a Cassoulet (mind the capital C!).
All in all, this bottle gave us huge
pleasure for a more than affordable price. We hope to be back soon in the
neighborhood and buy some more and are curious to see what 2009, 2010 will
taste like…
Rest the debate whether the
stylistic rendering on the label bears any resemblance with Lisa Stanton. For
me to know, for you to guess.
Not unimportant is the fact that Stanton Black and their other wines are natural, made from organically grown grapes. No chemicals are used in the vineyard, and the use of sulfates is limited. In addition they are hand-harvested which is a good way of keeping the grapes healthy and in optimum condition.
Winter is now clement but we have a
thought for the Stantons and all other wine-growers who are now in the middle
of their vineyards, pruning away vine by vine to give us the healthy and
perfect grapes, necessary to produce great wine in the next year. It’s very
hard work and we’d better remember that when we open up another bottle. Cheers!
