Clos Siguier "Les Camille" Cahors Vieilles Vignes 2020

Direct Press Selection | April 2025

[PRESS 4 MIX • PRESS 4 RED]

You don’t have to do much online sleuthing to find an active and vocal community of Malbec-haters among the world of wine writers and aficionados (here I’m thinking of one particular blog that dubbed it “cougar juice”). As you might guess, if you’ve been following our general theme, it’s another grape whose reputation has been smeared by decades of bulk production, particularly in Argentina, where overripe grape must is often acidified or masked with heavy oak before making its way to the U.S. market.  

Clos Siguier is perhaps the polar opposite of this approach. Tucked amid 15 hectares of vines in the Cahors region of southwest France, where Malbec is known as Côt, the estate has been practicing organic for generations — not because of trends, but because vigneron Gilles Bley simply makes wine in the same way as his ancestors. Unlike much of Cahors (which has also been guilty of churning out fleshy, overpowered reds), his grapes are planted on steep limestone slopes rather than fertile flatland. As a result, his wines are a lighter, lower-alcohol expression of the region.

That’s particularly true of this flagship cuvée, which is 95% Malbec and 5% Tannat but soars with freshness and minerality. The aroma of the wine is reminiscent of baklava, with notes of rich, plummy fruit, raisins, dates, and walnuts, but it’s amazingly fresh on the palate with ripe, powdery tannins and a refreshing crushed gravel finish. In my fantasies, I’m drinking a bottle alongside a grilled rack of lamb and Samin Nosrat’s tahdig. Kate Masters