Recommended: 2005 Château de Gaudou Cahors Cuvée Tradition

I'd like to recommend a wine that is imported by a friend of mine, the 2005 Château de Gaudou Cahors Cuvée Tradition. Cahors is an AOC in the South West of France and it is fairly unique in that it relies primarily on the Malbec grape, which tends to be a blending grape elsewhere. The Gaudou is 80% Malbec, 15% Merlot (used to soften the harder, more tannic Malbec), 5% Tannat (which provides some additional structure). Malbec also goes by the names Auxerrois or Côt in France and loyal readers will remember I've previously recommended a Côt from the Loire. The bottle was a gift of Zach Ross and, for his generosity, I am grateful.

I enjoyed this wine quite a bit. It is firmly rooted in the earth. The fruit is as black as the color of the wine with an appealing spiciness, along with wet earth and a slight steeliness. The tannins are ample and drying, although it smoothed out considerably after sitting in the fridge for a couple of days. It is an honest, fairly straight forward wine that begs for food and should be consumed as an every day drinker. It brings me back to the heady times of dining outdoors on simple fair with local wines in the South of France. A welcome antidote to amped up Argentine Malbecs.