More info on the estate here.
Julien Ilbert must be the most welcoming person in Cahors, i’m sure. Always available, welcoming and eager to present his new bottled vintages, too. I must confess i was also impatient to taste the new babies.
Here’s an excerpt of our conversation:
Julien, have you bottled the new vintages yet?
Yes, Prestige 2008, Coeur de Cuvée 2007 as well as Elite 2007 – the premium-only-the-best-years cuvee- at the beginning of this summer
What are their specificities ?
Great finesse, crispy fruit aromas, well-balanced tannins. 2007 is definitely a great vintage at Combel la Serre, with more concentration and more intense aromas than 2006 for instance, thanks to the greater sun exposure
Elite 2007, the ultra-premium cuvée from Combel la Serre is released this year for the first time since the 2001 vintage ?
From 2007 on, we put this project back to life and we plan to release this cuvee every year from now on. In order to obtain an exceptional wine, we select a particular plot, where the malbec vines are approximatively 45 years old. The red clay soil just goes a few centimetres deep just over calcareous marls. The surface is a little less than one Ha and the renders are pretty low, between 20 and 30 Hl/ha. The harvest is manual and selected with the greatest care. Then we age it for 15 months in new oak barrels. It is a wine made for ageing.
The quality of Cahors wines have tremendously evolved these past years. What did the new generation of winemakers –which you are part of- has brought up according to you? Should we speak of an evolution or a revolution?
The new generation wasn’t buying the old idea that Cahors wines are only bound to be harsh, tannic wines made to be kept for fifteen years in a cellar before being opened and drank. In a way, we have given a new shine on the AOC in demonstrating that Malbec offered many possibilities in terms of production. We know now how to make crispy, fruity wines as well as more complex and concentrated wines. We are also able to produce excellent Malbec rosés (sold as Vin de Pays du Lot) and release en primeur wines in November.
I wouldn’t speak of a revolution. It would be pretentious to pretend we have revolutionized Cahors wines. It would depreciate our elders’ work and signify that they didn’t know how to make good Cahors. Evolution is a perfect word to define the influence, the work, and the fresh-minded approach of the new generation.
We all know today that nothing can be taken for granted and that doing it can be very dangerous. One must remain curious, constantly researching for improvement and not be afraid of self-criticism. These dynamics are essential to get the best out of ourselves and out of our wines.
Finally Julien, how does 2009 look like at Combel la Serre ?
2009 was a very exciting yet complex vintage to vinify. As for now the fruit aromas have a strong presence and we tend to think it’s a very promising vintage.
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I live HONG KONG,Where can buy 2007 elite cuvee