14 August 2015

Party Like It's 3!

Our trip to Cahors was largely a lot of work, tasting 50 wines a day and learning about the region and about Malbec in general.  However, our small group from the US was able to stay in the Chateau de Mercues, just outside of Cahors on the Lot river.  And everything's better in a castle!



Now for the fun part of staying a castle built in 3 A.D.:  although wifi is only good in a 10 by 10 foot area, it is worth it for the view!  My room is in an honest to goodness turret!  With a view of the river, of course.  Not a bad way to spend an evening--even if we didn't get in until 2 a.m. most nights.




Why were we out so late?  To show off the range of Malbec all over the world, we had 2 huge wine dinners, featuring wines from the Northern Hemisphere and then the Southern Hemisphere.  The meals were so big that this was all I could take of the dessert at one of them!
Here's a fact about Cahors:  though it is the home of Malbec, only 10% of the world's production comes from the area!!  We much have had the vast majority of them at these tastings.
Want to see more about Cahors?  Check out these podcasts and videos...


Here was one of the flights at our Northern Hemisphere dinner.  Every course was paired with Malbec to showcase the versatility.  I might not have agreed with EVERY thing that we had Malbec with, but chocolate was particularly good, as were the beef and pork dishes.  Mushrooms too!  We all left every dinner with teeth stained black--showcasing the "black wine of Cahors".






Want to feel like a baller?  Well, how about a truffle buffet on top of the Valentre bridge??  This was the site of the last event for Malbec days, and we were doing our best to feel excited about tasting another 40 Malbecs, to be honest... but the scenery and food definitely helped.  I hope I've been able to impart the spirit of the Quercy people a little bit.


One last look from the beautiful Chateau de Mercues... on to more Southern France next on the tour!

What do a bunch of American's who have been force fed Foie Gras for 5 days crave at the end of a long wine tasting trip?  French fries, burgers, and beer, of course!!!


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