10 Cahors AC 2005 Les Quatre Chambrées
Domaine de la Berangeraie

Grape:100% Malbec (13% alc.)

This is Berangeraie's top unoaked wine and comes from a due south-facing hillside where the soil is a deep limestone imbued with iron deposits. Yields are 15% lower than the Maurin at 28 hectos per hectare and the temperature of fermentation is never allowed to exceed a low 25° (above which point harsher more unstable elements are extracted). It has bigger, riper fruit than the Maurin, with notable menthol, liquorice, limestone and iron notes and tremendous depth. For drinking late 2009 to 2014.

Technical Information
Winemaker:	Bérenger family
Location:	Grezels
Size of domaine:	20 hectares of which LQC is 0.8 hectare. 2000 to 2500 bts produced.
Grape:	100% Malbec on 420A root stsocks. Clonal selection. 35 year old vines planted 5000 per hectare and trained to single guyot.
Terroir:	Due south facing, limestone-clay with heavy iron content. Deep red soil.
Viticulture:	Grass left to grow between rows. Ploughs deep once every 3 years. Debuds and green harvests. Vineyards treated organically - hence no herbicides or pesticides are used (SO2 and copper sulphate only). Very severe thinning in June to leave only 5 bunches of grapes per vine. Harvest 100% by hand with careful 'tri'. 28 H/H yield.
Vinification:	100% destalked. Not crushed. Fermented in cement cuve using natural indigenous yeasts. Maximum temperature of 30ºC. 3 remontages (and one pigeage per day) during alcoholic fermentation. 6-8 week cuvaison. Vaslin horizontal press. Press wine added back. Cuve aged 100%. Racked 4 times. Malolactics completed. Lightly filtered by plaque but not fined. Bottled in June after 20 months.
Press:

 

qty (bottles)

exc vat: £11.26