On the limestone plateau of the Causse, a few kilometers from Cahors, Domaine Combel La Serre breathes new energy into Malbec. Led by Sophie and Julien Ilbert, this family-run wine estate is reawakening the codes of an appellation too long confined to power and extraction. Here, the emphasis is on fruit, freshness and drinkability. The history of the family wine estate is written in the present tense, but its roots lie in several generations of winemakers. Julien represents the third generation, initially working for the cooperative before starting to make his own wines in the early 2000s. At his side, Sophie, his partner, brings her sharp, sensitive eye, helping to make the wine estate a key reference in the Cahors revival.
The turnaround is clear: switch toorganic farming in the 2010s, winemaking without artificial additives, indigenous yeasts, little or no sulfur depending on the cuvée... A demanding viticulture, respectful of its environment, based on vines often located at altitude, between 300 and 350 meters, on the steep limestone slopes of the Causse. These lean, luminous soils give rise to Malbecs with a singular profile, full of tension and brilliance.
The journey through the range begins with Le Pur Fruit du Causse, a juicy, immediate red wine with mellow tannins and bright fruit. A perfect introduction to the world of Sophie and Julien Ilbert. The Cuvée Château, made from the oldest vines on the wine estate, has a deeper, more structured structure, without ever losing its clarity. Le Lac aux Cochons, an exclusive rarity, imposes its mystery: an intense, charming Malbec, vinified without sulfur, which unfurls a light-dark material, between black fruits and mineral freshness.
But the Combel La Serre wine estate is also open to white wines. In a region dominated by reds, Sophie and Julien Ilbert have chosen to make another voice heard. De la Terre à la Lune, 100% Vermentino, expresses its saline uprightness, while 20,000 Lieux Sous les Mers, 100% Albariño, astonishes with its vivacity and marine expression. Dreamy, confident names that remind us that for the Ilberts, wine is also a matter of the imagination.
Over the years, the Combel La Serre wine estate has established itself as one of the most exciting faces in Cahors. Its cuvées bear witness to an unmistakable vision: that of a Malbec reinvented, sincere, lively, the antithesis of stereotypes. A wine of place, a wine of soil, a wine of spirit.
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