Château La Coustarelle is located on the right bank of the Lot river near the village of Prayssac at the lieu-dit "Les Caris", situated about 20 kilometres west of the village Cahors. The domain's origin dates back to 1870 when Paul Cassot settled in the area as a farmer. The farm was renamed Château La Coustarelle in 1947 by Pierre Cassot representing the 3rd generation. The château was named after the first parcel of vines planted at the lieu-dit "Coustarelle" meaning little slope "petit côteau" in old French. In 1980, Michel Cassot took over the running of the estate from his father Pierre with the help of his wife Nadine, making him the 4th generation on the estate.
In 1992, Michel decided to produce and bottle his own wines leaving the local cooperative. He invested a lot of time and effort in build the reputation of Château la Coustarelle. By the late 1990s, the estate is considered to be amongst the best estates of Cahors as it had been selected with 12 other estates (amongst 200) to have its vineyards and wine classified as Gran Cru. Unfortunately, the classification project was abandoned in 2002 due to discontentfrom some vignerons regarding the overall classification. Today some sort of classification is still being considered.
In 2002, Michel's daughter Caroline representing the 5th generation joined her father on the estate. Since 2009, she has taken over the winemaking and running of the estate. One of her first actions was to remove the 450 hl tanks and replace them with smaller ones to allow each plot of the 50 ha property. Within a few years she has made her mark by maintaining the high quality and typicity of the wines with a feminine touch. Like all top winemakers she believes the quality comes from the vines when managed properly. She tastes the grapes and imagines the blends from each vineyard relying on instinct as much as science and technology.
