I recently spent a family holiday in the Lot-et-Garonne department of south-west France. This is a lovely area, rich in delightful architecture, beautiful countryside, and food and drink that is amazingly good value, at least for as long as we can still exchange our pound for 9½ francs.
    We were about an hour's drive from Cahors, and all around this fine old city are the vineyards producing its celebrated 'black wine', so called because of its deep, dark colour and its heavily tannic character. I was armed with the Guide Hachette du Vin, which is a very useful tome. It only deals with French wine, and gives summaries of the results of a massive amount of blind tastings. It is therefore very helpful if you are in and around somewhere like Cahors, where there are hundreds of domaines inviting you for a free tasting and an opportunity to buy the wine at usually advantageous cellar door prices. We visited three of them in and around Vire-sur-Lot : a good cross-section as it turned out.
    The Château du Cèdre has been bought by a Belgian called Verhaeghe, who is determined to make something out of it. He has clearly invested fairly heavily and has brought in an œnologist who knows what he is doing. The result is a smooth, slightly sweetish wine, with character and some complexity; at 34 francs a bottle for the '96, definitely worth a punt. I felt, however, that it was lacking something of what the French call 'typicité', and had I met it blind in international company, I might have been pushed to identify it.
    The Domaine de Carreyre is at the other end of the spectrum. The wine is big, gutsy and tannic, with tobacco and old socks on the nose, it is exactly the sort of wine that gives Cahors its 'black' reputation. A tiny production, they have been overwhelmed at getting a mention in Hachette, increasing the quantity of visitors accordingly. Here there is no pandering to international tastes, but a classic example of a classic vin de pays. 26 francs a bottle - probably even less pre-Hachette.
    Clos la Coutale is between the two, and is probably the most successful. The Bernède family has been making wine here for several generations, and they have assessed quite well how to retain the typicité of Cahors style, without frightening off drinkers used to something more bland. I bought three magnums of their 1995 at 74 francs each.
    What all these wines had in common was a desperate need for time. Their makers all admitted that had it not been for financial pressures, they would not have put them on the market for at least 10 years. I resolved to keep what I bought for as long as possible, to see if they developed into anything special. Most wines are fairly agreeable when young and fresh, then go into a dull period of two or three years, after which, if they have any class, they will emerge as an exciting and rewarding drink. Have any of my readers tasted ten-year old Cahors? If so, please let me know if it is worth the wait, as I believe it will be.
    What I seriously cannot recommend is buying these wines at home. With the cost of freight, our ridiculous duty, and the importer's margin, they are too expensive for what they are. No wonder sales of estate cars are booming. All names and addresses, prices and other details are in the Guide Hachette du Vin.