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Clos de Gamot Cahors le Gamotin, 2023 $16.99/bottle – $183.49/case

Wine of the Month – April 2026

Talk about history! Cahors, in southwest France, is where Malbec originated. The Jouffreau family settled in Prayssac in 1290, first as farmers and merchants, then from 1450 as winemakers at Clos de Gamot. In 1610, the family built a house in the middle of the vines, where Yves and Martine Jouffreau-Hermann currently reside. During the phylloxera epidemic in the 1880s, when the vineyards of France were decimated by the root-eating louse, Guillaume Jouffreau collected the last vine shoots of the dying Malbec vines at Clos de Gamot and grafted them onto various rootstock. All except one died. Herbemont rootstock turned out to be resistant to Phylloxera; the Malbec grafted onto it survived. Guillaume saved his vineyard and the rest of Cahors, as almost all Cahors vineyards were replanted with cuttings from Clos de Gamot! Several centuries-old vines remain and continue to produce a few clusters of pure Malbec every year.

Today, Clos de Gamot is a 37-acre, organic vineyard with this original clone of Malbec vines on calcareous clay-siliceous soil with pebbles and flints. Cahors vineyards sit on three terraces of the Lot Valley, with the higher ones considered superior. Clos de Gamot’s vineyards are situated on the second and third terraces, which come from the Massif Central (pebbles, gravel, quartz) and the alluvium of the Lot. A strip of red clay crosses the vineyard and gives some exceptional properties to this terroir. The geography of Cahors, with both Mediterranean (with the Autan Wind) and continental influences, brings excellent complexity to the wines.

The Le Gamotin cuvée comes from two parcels of vines that are shockingly old. One parcel contains vines that range from 40 to 70 years of age. The vines in the second, and smaller, parcel are 120 years old! The parcels are vinified separately with a 21-day maceration in concrete vats. The wine is then aged for 18 months in neutral foudres (large casks) before bottling. Le Gamotin is 100% Malbec (locally called Côt) and is a fabulous introduction to Cahors. It is still youthful and benefits from aeration/decanting. There’s good structure to accompany the delicious, savory fruit with dusty earth, tobacco, dried berry, and olive notes. Very French, not at all Argentine!