Cotes du Lot: Chateau de Gaudou Puro Malbec Red

First cultivated by the Romans, the South West is one of France's largest wine-producing regions, encompassing a vast and varied area to the west of (but not including) Bordeaux. Its local rivers, such as the Garonne and Dordogne, once played an important role in transporting the wines to market, though having to pass through Bordeaux and its protective trade laws left the region long overshadowed by its famous neighbour. Today, the South West is celebrated for its sweet, dry, and sparkling whites and its robust reds, made from an exceptional diversity of local grape varieties rarely found elsewhere. Its varying climates and elevations produce some genuinely distinctive and characterful wines.

Following the course of the Lot river, Côtes du Lot is a small, relatively little-known IGP in South-West France, closely linked to neighbouring Cahors and in many ways a continuation of its winemaking traditions. Red wine dominates, with Malbec the principal grape, producing deeply coloured, structured wines showing plum, dark berries, and spice, sometimes blended with Cabernet Franc, Merlot, or Cabernet Sauvignon. Whites and rosés also appear, the former made from Chardonnay or Sauvignon Blanc with fresh notes of citrus and orchard fruit.