While working as an enologist in Provence, winemaker Valérie Courrèges was looking for an outstanding terroir where should could settle and begin her own winery. In 2019, she came across a perfect opportunity to make great work in the Southwest, specifically in Cahors. She’d found a remarkable 11-hectare clos, contained stone wall and all, preserved from an original family farm planted in 1913. With the purchase of this very special plot, and the addition of a second contiguous 11-hectare parcel in the high plateaus of the Cahors appellation, Valérie now tends and vinifies 22 hectares of old vines rooted in a top-notch terroir of healthy clay and Jurassic limestone.

Drawing inspiration from legends and friends like Lalou Bize-Leroy, Jean-François Ganevat, and Olivier Horiot, Valerie’s first order of business at the winery was to convert all of its vineyards to biodynamic farming, in accordance with Demeter certification. The existing old vines, averaging between 50 and 65 years, were all planted via selection massale and grafted in place—an incredibly rare find in Cahors. There are two large parcels, as mentioned previously; the first 11 hectare parcel is located in the commune of Montuq, co-planted with Syrah, Gamay, Malbec, and Cabernet Franc. With this parcel, Valérie decided to forgo the stringent requirements of the AOP Côteaux du Quercy and to declassify the wines to Vin de France, to be able to focus more truthfully on terroir.

The second 11-hectare parcel is the aforementioned 1913 clos, located on high plateaus in Sauzet (AOP Cahors). In this parcel, the thick layer of topsoil above the limestone mother rock gives the land an increased resistance to drought, as well as, counterintuitively, to excess water due to natural drainage. The strength of this parcel also lies with its ‘swelling clays:’ these bestow striking notes of violets and lilac to the otherwise animal-driven, farmy expressions that are typical in Cahors.

Valérie’s wines are vinified with mostly destemmed grapes and not crushed grapes, to respect the integrity of the berries. Fermentation is done by parcel in small concrete tanks with indigenous yeasts, with very modest extraction implemented through light pump-overs or hand punchdowns. Valérie is also vinfiying the wines under the mentorship of Matthieu Cosse, another excellent steward of vines in Cahors. We are thrilled with the clearly high caliber of Valerie’s work in this appellation: these are natural wines with breaktaking clarity, specific parcel expression, with neither a fear of structure and nor heavy-handedness with the fruit. In a world where the Southwest and Cahors specifically have been dogged by bulk production and massive, homogenous wines, to see Courrèges’ new work is breathtaking: a new entry into French natural wine that isn’t like much else being made nearby.