Château du Cèdre

Draft of an original wine estate

A family estate run by Pascal and Jean-Marc Verhaeghe
27 hectares of vineyards
Red grape varieties: 90% Malbec, 5% Merlot, 5% Tannat
White grape varieties: 1ha de Viognier, 0,7 ares Sémillon, Muscadelle, Sauvignon
The vines are 20 to 60 years old, with a planting density of 4000 to 5500 vines per hectare
Yields are limited to 30 hectolitres per hectare
A vineyard team of 12 people, which means an average of 1 person for 2,25 hectares of vines
Brand mark: the centenary cedar tree at the entry of our estate, the symbol of entirety
Mission: Satisfy the wine lovers and the passionate
Daily position ascertained by dead reckoning: Move forward, experience new ways.

History

Flemish origins

Léon Verhaeghe from Morsleede in Flanders, left his native country in the early 20th century to settle in south-western France. His son Charles together with his wife Marie-Thérèse started a farm with mixed cultures in 1958 planting some vines on the property, and adding one hectare of vineyards in three different plots every year.

The call of the vines

While still distilling lavender, Charles bottles his first wine in 1973. His sons, Jean-Marc and Pascal belong to the second generation. A passionate of motor cycles, Pascal discovers or “rediscovers” the vineyard while visiting a friend in Burgundy, Jean-Marie Guffens in 1980.

“During the “Route du Bol d’Or”, a motorcycle race, I just stopped to salute Jean-Marie… I stayed several days and did my first real harvest.”

Eight years later, after having studied enology in Macon Davayé and experienced wine making in Burgundy and at Saintsbury in the Napa Valley, he decides to take over the estate, together with his brother Jean-Marc, a qualified oenologist who obtained his first wine making experience at La Tour Blanche in Sauternes.

While Jean-Marc is responsible for the vineyards, Pascal takes care of the wines and their distribution. From the beginning, their project is based on a great complicity and the convergence of their points of view.

1995 the year of emancipation

It all has been put to a test by a difficult vintage, with 80% of the vineyards damaged by hailstorms. Jean-Marc and Pascal question their way of farming, considering they have to reveal the potential of the terroir and to lower the yields.

“There is an unearthly dimension with vines, you always get more in return than you gave.” By building up the terroir and getting closer to nature, the vines gained balance, giving more taste and quality to the grapes. The style of Château du Cèdre was born.
Le Cèdre Diffusion

Le Cèdre Diffusion was created in 1995 to commercialise the wines of our partner estates in Cahors, where we also advise in the vineyards and cellars. The fact that these partners enhance the number of bottles labelled with their own name every year is a real sign of success for us. It’s our contribution to the development of the Cahors appellation.
Developing our brands

Cahors has a unique and superb terroir. This means you may create great and complex wines that will evolve for years, as well as more simple and lighter wines with similar characteristics due their origin. Wine brands allow us to propose typical “commodity wines” to our customers.