Cahors, the home of the Malbec grape variety, is possessed of a grand winemaking history, but was broken by phylloxera and languished in obscurity for most of the twentieth century. However, in the last twenty years, inward investment here has been rivalled only by that in the Languedoc, as new producers have looked to recapture the grandeur of the past. Chateau Haut-Monplaisir is decidedly a terroir in the vanguard of that movement, with its vines situated on a stony, south-facing hilltop near the village of Lacapelle-Cabenac. The owners are Cathy and Daniel Fournié, and they are assisted in the winemaking by Pascal Verhaeghe, owner of the prestigious immediate neighbour (down the slope) Chateau du Cedre. ‘Lutte raisonnée’ is practised in the vineyards, and average yields are just 35hl/ha.

The wines of Haut-Monplaisir, across the range, are incredibly dark and rich, with an energy that has to be tasted to be believed. They are very much a synthesis of the old and the new: modern fruit purity married to truly bold, but lusciously ripe, natural tannins. It begs the question “who needs Bordeaux?”, when the wines are as good as this. The Tradition is streets ahead of anything you will get from the majority of overpriced Cru Bourgeois Clarets, whilst the Prestige and Pur Plaisir are definitely in the Classed-Growth league - they just cost much less! This domaine gets a star in Andrew Jefford's book "The New France" and he says "Haut-Monplaisir is obviously a promising terroir, making this a name to watch." Indeed, the awards for these wines are racking up, but the prices haven’t caught up yet – so catch them now!