Os Goliardos - European Terroir Wines

Catherine Maisonneuve, originally from Paris and trained in Bordeaux, and Matthieu Cosse, an indigenous representative of the Lot with the physique of a former rugby player, studied together in Bordeaux and joined forces to create this estate in 1999 on the beautiful slopes of Cahors. They started with 5 ha in the Prayssac area and today cultivate 28 ha spread over 3 different vineyard clusters within a 25 km radius. They complement the dominant and kingly Malbec (or Cot) with a little Merlot, Cabernet-Franc, Gamay, Chardonnay and Ugni blanc. The vineyards are cultivated following biodynamic principles, with horse labour and cows grazing in the vineyards to allow for natural fertilisation. They work a wide variety of clay-limestone soils with various nuances: more or less ferrous clays, limestone gravels, proximity to the Lot River, more or less sunny exposures give rise to wines made according to the different terroirs cultivated. They endeavour to overcome the image of rustic Cahors wine to reveal the depth and finesse that Malbec can convey when the vines manage to restore the good natural composition of the soils in this region, which has a rare potential for terroirs with a great wine-making vocation. This pioneering estate in the reaffirmation of Cahors wine, known in its glorious past as the ‘Black wine’ of the English, gives us the opportunity to appreciate various facets of this terroir to be rediscovered with wines that are slowly matured to their best expression.