Cahors wine

Cahors is a red wine from grapes grown in or around the town of Cahors, France.

History

Planted by the Romans around 50 BC, Cahors is one of the oldest wines in Europe. Since that time, the vines have remained in the land of Quercy and their history has been combined with that of the region.

Cahors has a storied history. During the Middle Ages it was called "the black wine." Clément Marot sung the virtues of this "liquor of fire." It was on the tables at the marriage of Eleanor of Aquitaine with Henry II of England. Pope John XXII, born at Cahors, made it his table and sacramental wine. Francis I of France appreciated it to the point of delegating to the Cahorsin vintners the task of creating the vineyard of Fontainebleau. Jean-Baptiste Colbert did not hesitate to deem it superior to Bordeaux. The Russian Emperor Peter I of Russia drank Cahors (Russian: кагор) and the Russian Orthodox Church adopted it as the sacramental wine. Since the wine's introduction to the court of England, Cahors wine even became a formidable competitor to claret, as Bordeaux is known. The Bordelais vintners attempted to prevent the commerce before All Saints Day to stop its production; Louis XVI resolved the conflict by providing mediation between the vintners.

The history of the wine is also tied to that of the Lot River. Since its introduction by the Romans, its trade passes by this dangerous yet navigable route. In the 18th century, around 10,000 barrels of wine passed through Bordeaux to leave thence for the north of Europe, the Antilles and the Americas.

The Cahors fell little by little into disuse. Before the end of the 19th century, the phylloxera of 1876 almost made it completely disappear. The frosts of 1956 were fatal. The resurrection of the wine was slow and difficult. But after about 20 years, a new generation of producers began to rebuild the industry.