K-lys AOC 2014 – Clos Troteligotte

Clos Troteligotte of Emmanuel Rybinski is a 19 hectare enclosed domain located on the high terroirs of the Cahors appellation. The estate's own vineyards are located in the middle of a forest between the Lot Valley and the Causses, the limestone plateau of Quercy Blanc. Rybinski firmly believes that the quality of the wines is directly rooted in the work done in the vineyards as well as in the quality of the soils. In order to promote the greatest possible balance between vines and soils, Rybinski farms his vineyards according to the principles of biodynamics.

Since 1987, Clos Troteligotte has been practicing a rural agriculture that considers viticulture as part of a healthy circular economy. The experience and observations of the natural interplay of vines, terroir and climate resulted in organic certification in 2014 and biodynamic certification according to Demeter guidelines in 2017. The reds are on the ferruginous clay-limestone terroir of the Cahors plateau, while the whites are grown outside the Clos on external 12 hectares on the Quercy blanc limestone terroirs. The wines of the domaine are marketed under the AOC Cahors as well as Vin de France.

The K-lys comes from a single parcel of ferruginous limestone from des Causses of the Lot Valley. Grown on vines over 30 years old, the grapes were harvested by hand, fermented spontaneously after long maceration and gentle extraction, and aged in large wood for 24 months before maturing in concrete for another 24 months. The wine was bottled unfined, unfiltered and unsulphured.

Dark purple with violet reflections.

The 2014 K-lys from Emmanuel Rybinski's Clos Troteligotte comes out of the goblet powerful and spicy. The nose takes you back to the old days, when Malbec was still considered an uncouth clod, before it became a trendy cider from overseas. Underbrush, dried autumn trumpets, black olives and leather set the pace, and above it all hovers a proper bass, whose subwoofers fill half the neighbourhood with sound. With increasing ventilation, a few dark fruits lean out of the window to see what is pulsating so blatantly.

Super juicy and meaty at the same time, it makes you hesitate at first which side to take - fruit or venison? Plum jam and black cherries are merely the regalia of this structural berserker, which completely lines the mouth with tightly woven rough tannin. The acidity throws some star-dust on the palate and gives this striking conglomerate a peculiar freshness that soon puts it in a different light. Friendlier? That is in the cup of the tippler.