Heritage du Cedre Chateau du Cedre, Cahors AOC, France

The family traits of abundant dark brooding fruit are evident; the heart is black but the flesh is youthful. It’s lunchtime and you could murder a Cahors, but you don’t fancy taking out one of the big guns. Heritage is for you, a bonny ruby-red, the Malbec softened by plummy Merlot soothing to the gullet, a nice touch of lip-smacking acidity.

GRAPES: 95% Malbec, 5% Merlot

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 vineyard land devastated by the frosts in 1956. They have added one more hectare of vineyards in three different plots every year. The estate is now run by Charles’ sons Pascal and Jean- Marc who duly studied winemaking in Burgundy & California, and Bordeaux respectively.