Grape variety
Malbec
Malbec: from Cahors, the “black wine”, to Mendoza. Origin, parentage, Argentina and France, style and what to eat with it.
- Colour
- Red
- Parentage
- Natural cross of Prunelard × Magdeleine Noire des Charentes, half-sibling of Merlot; south-western France
- Synonyms
- Côt, in Cahors also Auxerrois
- Main regions
- Argentina (about 47,000 hectares, mostly Mendoza), France (Cahors), Chile
- Typical aromas
- Plum, blackberry, violet, cocoa, earth
- Classic pairing
- Grilled beef, asado, duck confit, cassoulet
Malbec has two homelands. It comes from south-western France, where it is called Côt, or Auxerrois in Cahors, and it is now Argentina’s signature grape. Its parents are Prunelard and the nearly vanished Magdeleine Noire des Charentes, which is also a parent of Merlot; Malbec and Merlot are therefore half-siblings. The world’s largest area of Malbec lies in Argentina, at about 47,000 hectares; France has only a fraction of that. Variety catalogues such as VIVC list well over a hundred synonyms; in the Bordeaux area it was known, among other names, as Pressac.
Cahors, on the river Lot, is its old stronghold. Already in the Middle Ages the wine was so dark that people spoke of “vin noir”, black wine. The appellation requires at least 70 % Malbec, with Merlot and Tannat making up the rest. Cahors wines are dense, tannic and earthy, with plum, blackberry and violet, and need years. The typical colour is almost opaque, with violet reflections. In February 1956 a frost destroyed most of the vines; today the vineyard covers just over 3,000 hectares, mostly Malbec.
It reached Argentina in the middle of the 19th century: in 1853 a model farm with an agricultural school was planned in Mendoza, and the French agronomist Michel Pouget, who was to set it up, introduced several European varieties there, among them Malbec. Most Argentine Malbec grows in the province of Mendoza, at the foot of the Andes, in Luján de Cuyo and the Uco Valley, at 800 to 1,500 metres. In 1962 the area was even larger than today, at more than 58,000 hectares; it fell below 10,000 by 1995, and only later did quality and altitude pave the way to world fame. Intense sun, dry air and cool nights give dark, ripe wines with soft tannins and retained freshness.
In Bordeaux Malbec was once widely planted; today it belongs, with Petit Verdot and Carmenère, to the minor varieties that together make up only about 2 % of the red vines. In the Loire, in Touraine, a little Malbec grows under the name Côt. The whole lesson lies in the comparison: Cahors, firm, earthy and tight; Mendoza, supple, juicy and generous.
At the table: grilled beef, entrecôte and asado, grilled lamb, and in Cahors confit of duck and cassoulet. These wines stand up well to grilled flavours and fat; a mature hard cheese suits them too. Serve at 16 to 18 degrees.