Ostal Levant is the excellent young domaine of Louis and Charlotte Perot, who live and make wine on the calcareous plateau high above the Lot River in the historic region of Cahors.

Louis and Charlotte moved with their young family to the south-west back in 2012. They'd both been working in publishing and literature in Paris and over time became desperate for a rural change. So, Louis enrolled in oenology in Burgundy, completed the course and south they went.

They discovered and purchased a beautifully isolated, ancient farm with totally dilapidated buildings in a lieu-dit called Alary, high in the terraces above the river. Immediately, but slowly, they began to renovate the buildings for themselves and guests to stay in. They planted vines (chenin, mauzac, loin de l'oeil, pinot noir, cabernet franc, malbec and lots of hybrids) in addition to the vineyards they leased and today this farm is a true oasis — a culmination of nearly a decade of hard work, beautiful farming and joie de vivre. This is a charming young family who love good music, good food, hosting guests and farming well.

These sites are geologically amazing. You find clay of course, but a very curious vein of fine sand and also limestone populates these sites. It really is quite amazing country and it's obvious why this was formerly such celebrated terroir. It simply makes sense to grow grapes here.

As an extension of the home vineyard, Louis and Charlotte have leased several other very small parcels since they moved to Cahors near the villages of Duravel and Prayssac.

The basis of the quality here comes from low yields and great farming. Both former literary professionals, Louis and Charlotte are obsessed with very old texts about farming, grape growing and vinification and much of their work is influenced by methods that were common hundreds of years ago.

Further, they've been aided greatly by their very good friend Simon Busser who remains a real mentor in the world of organic farming in Cahors.

In the winery, the majority of the red wines are destemmed, fermented in stainless and then run to barrel for elevage. Significantly, elevage takes place in a quite amazing limestone cave deep in the side of a hill near Alary. There are several of these caves in the area, all with very low ceilings and heavy humidity, despite the very cool air. This gives the L'Ostal wines an extra level of primary tannin and fruit and also purity. And thanks to the nature of the malbec, the primary fruit is always offset by minerality and a very pleasing level of varietal austerity — one of our favourite qualities of malbec grown in Cahors. All of this, carried by naturally abundant acidity, lends a very distinctive house style to the domaine.