Malbec () is a purple grape variety used in making red wine. The grapes tend to have an inky dark color and robust tannins, and are known as one of the six grapes allowed in the blend of red Bordeaux wine. In France, plantations of Malbec are now found primarily in Cahors in South West France, though the grape is grown worldwide. It is also available as an Argentine varietal.
The grape became less popular in Bordeaux after 1956 when frost killed off 75% of the crop. Despite Cahors being hit by the same frost, which devastated the vineyards, Malbec was replanted and continued to be popular in that area. Winemakers in the region frequently mixed Malbec with Merlot and Tannat to make dark, full-bodied wines, but have ventured into 100% Malbec varietal wines more recently.J. Robinson Vines, Grapes & Wines pg 198 & 204 Mitchell Beazley 1986
A popular but unconfirmed theory claims that Malbec is named after a Hungarian peasant who first spread the grape variety throughout France. French ampelographer and viticulturalist Pierre Galet notes, however, that most evidence suggests that Côt was the variety's original name and that it probably originated in northern Burgundy. Due to similarities in synonyms, Malbec is often confused with other varieties of grape. Malbec argenté is not Malbec, but rather a variety of the southwestern French grape Abouriou. In Cahors, the Malbec grape is referred to as Auxerrois or Côt Noir; this is sometimes confused with Auxerrois blanc, which is an entirely different variety.
The Malbec grape is a thick-skinned grape and needs more sun and heat than either Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot to mature.Cellar notes Malbec Grape Variety It ripens mid-season and can bring very deep color, ample tannin, and a particular plum-like flavor component which adds complexity to claret blends. Sometimes, especially in its traditional growing regions, it is not trellised but is instead cultivated as bush vines (the goblet system). In such cases, it is sometimes kept to a relatively low yield of about 6 tons per hectare. Wines produced using this growing method are rich, dark, and juicy.Winepros Malbec
As a varietal, Malbec creates a rather inky red (or violet), intense wine, so it is also commonly used in blends, such as with Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon to create the red French Bordeaux claret blend. The grape is blended with Cabernet Franc and Gamay in some regions such as the Loire Valley.Epicurious Wine Dictionary Malbec Definition Other wine regions use the grape to produce Bordeaux-style blends.Appellation America Malbec Wine Grape The varietal is sensitive to frost and has a propensity for shattering or coulure.
Viticulture Malbec is very susceptible to various grape diseases and viticultural hazards—most notably frost, coulure, downy mildew, and rot— but the development of new clones and vineyard management techniques have helped control some of these potential problems. When it is not afflicted with these various ailments, particularly coulure, it does have the potential to produce high yields. Malbec seems to be able to produce well in a variety of soil types but in the limestone based soils of Cahors it seems to produce its most dark and tannic manifestation. There are distinct ampelographical differences in the clones of Malbec found in France and in Argentina, with Argentine Malbec tending to have smaller berries.Oz Clarke. Encyclopedia of Grapes. pg 118–119. Harcourt Books, 2001. .
A comparative research study conducted by the Catena Institute of Wine and University of California, Davis, examined the difference between the phenolic composition of Malbec wines from California and Mendoza, Argentina. Sixteen vineyards in California and twenty-six blocks in Mendoza were selected based on their uniformity and regional representativeness. The study concluded that there are distinct flavor and compositional differences in Malbec wines produced in Mendoza and California.Phenolic Composition of Malbec: A Comparative Study of Research-Scale Wines between Argentina and the United States, American Society for Enology and Viticulture, October 2014 .
Regions Malbec is the dominant red variety in Cahors where the Appellation Controlée regulations for Cahors require a minimum content of 70%. Introduced to Argentina by French agricultural engineer Michel Pouget in 1868, Malbec is now widely planted in Argentina. Grapes from this region produce softer, less tannic-driven wines than those from Cahors. There were once 50,000 hectares planted with Malbec in Argentina; now there are 25,000 hectares in Mendoza alone, in addition to production in La Rioja, Salta, San Juan, Catamarca and Buenos Aires.
Chile has 2,361 hectares planted with Malbec, the main places are Colchagua Valley in O'Higgins Region, Maule Region and Bio-Bio Region. In California the grape is used to make Meritage. Malbec is also grown in Washington State, the Rogue and Umpqua regions of Oregon, the Grand Valley AVA of Colorado, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Brazil, British Columbia, the Long Island AVA of New York, southern Bolivia, Peru, northeastern Italy and recently in Texas and southern Ontario, Virginia, and in the Baja California region of Mexico.
France
At one point Malbec was grown in 30 different departments of France, a legacy that is still present in the list of local synonyms for the variety, which easily surpasses 1000 names. In recent times, however, the popularity of the variety has been steadily declining with a 2000 census reporting only 15,000 acres (6,100 hectares) of the vine, which are mostly consigned to the southwestern part of the country. Its stronghold remains Cahors where Appellation d'origine contrôlée (AOC) regulations stipulates that Malbec must compose at least 70% of the blend, with Merlot and Tannat rounding out the remaining percentage. Outside of Cahors, Malbec is still found in small amounts as a permitted variety in the AOCs of Bergerac, Buzet, Côtes de Duras, Côtes du Marmandais, Fronton and Pécharmant. It is also permitted in the Vin Délimité de Qualité Supérieure (VDQS) of Côtes du Brulhois. In Le Midi region of the Languedoc, it is permitted (but rarely grown) in the AOC regions of Cabardès and Côtes de Malepère. There is a small amount of Malbec grown in the middle Loire Valley and permitted in the AOCs of Anjou, Coteaux du Loir, Touraine and the sparkling wine AOC of Saumur where it is blended with Cabernet Sauvignon and Gamay. Still, as elsewhere in France, Malbec is losing acreage to other varieties—most notably Cabernet Franc in the Loire.
Though the grape was historically a major planting in Bordeaux, providing color and fruit to its blends, in the 20th century it started to lose ground to Merlot and Cabernet Franc. This was due, in part, to its vulnerabilities to so many different vine ailments (coulure, downy mildew, frost). The severe 1956 frost wiped out a significant portion of Malbec vines in Bordeaux, allowing many growers a chance to start anew with different varieties. By 1968, plantings in the Libournais were down to 4,900 hectares (12,100 acres) and fell further to 1,400 hectares (3,460 acres) by 2000. While Malbec has since become a popular component of New World meritages or Bordeaux blends, and although it is still a permitted variety in all major wine regions of Bordeaux, its presence in Bordeaux has dwindled; the only significant plantings are in the regions of the Côtes-de-Bourg, Blaye and Entre-Deux-Mers.
Argentina While acreage of the Malbec is declining in France, in Argentina the grape is surging and has become a "national variety" of a sort that is uniquely identified with Argentine wine. The grape was first introduced to the region in the mid-19th century when provincial governor Domingo Faustino Sarmiento instructed the French agronomist Michel Pouget to bring grapevine cuttings from France to Argentina. Among the vines that Pouget brought were the very first Malbec vines to be planted in the country.A. Domine (ed.). Wine. pp. 840–844. Ullmann Publishing, 2008. . During the economic turmoil of the 20th century, some plantings of Malbec were pulled out to make way for the jug wine producing varieties of Criolla Grande and Cereza. The grape was rediscovered in the late 20th century as the Argentine wine industry shifted its focus to premium wine production for export. As the Argentine wine industry discovered the unique quality of wine that could be made from the grape, Malbec arose to greater prominence and is today the most widely planted red grape variety in the country. As of 2003 there were over 20,000 hectares (50,000 acres) of Malbec in Argentina. The Mendoza region is the leading producer of Malbec in Argentina with plantings found throughout the country in places such as La Rioja, Salta, San Juan, Catamarca, Rio Negro, Neuquen, Chubut, and Buenos Aires.
The grape clusters of Argentine Malbec are different from its French relatives, having smaller berries in tighter, smaller clusters. This suggests that the cuttings brought over by Pouget and later French immigrants were a unique clone that may have gone extinct in France due to frost and the phylloxera epidemic.H. Johnson & J. Robinson. The World Atlas of Wine. pp. 300–301. Mitchell Beazley Publishing, 2005. . Argentine Malbec wine is characterized by its deep color and intense fruity flavors with a velvety texture.K. MacNeil. The Wine Bible. pp. 848–857. Workman Publishing, 2001. . While they lack the tannic structure of French Malbecs, being more plush in texture, Argentine Malbecs have shown aging potential similar to their French counterparts.
High altitude Mendoza Malbec Argentina's most highly rated Malbec wines originate from Mendoza's high altitude wine regions of Luján de Cuyo and the Uco Valley. These districts are located in the foothills of the Andes Mountains between 800 m and 1500 m elevation (2,800 to 5,000 feet).Wine Tours: Argentina – Mendoza , "Fly Fishing Patagonia"Wine Tip: Malbec Madness, Wine Spectator, April 12, 2010
Argentine vintner Nicolás Catena Zapata has been widely credited for elevating the status of Argentine Malbec and the Mendoza region through serious experimentation into the effects of high altitude.Pierre-Antoine Rovani's Wine Personalities of the Year , Robert Parker Jr.'s The Wine Advocate. Issue 156, December 2004, August 27, 2009Nicolás Catena honoured as Decanter Man of the Year, Decanter.com. September 18, 2009."The Might of Mendoza: the romantic tale behind Argentina's booming malbec grape", The Independent, June 2014. In 1994, he was the first to plant a Malbec vineyard at almost 1500 m (5,000 feet) elevation in the Gualtallary sub-district of Tupungato, the Adrianna Vineyard. He was also the first to develop a clonal selection of Argentine Malbec., malbecnerds.com, August 27, 2009.The crusade against counterfeits , 'Wine Spectator, December 15, 2009.Four Magazine , Wine Spectator, 2012.Nicolás Catena Such Great Heights, Gismondi, Anthony, Montecristo Magazine, November 7, 2014.
High-altitude Mendoza has attracted many notable foreign winemakers, such as Paul Hobbs, Michel Rolland, Herve Joyaux-Fabre, Roberto Cipresso and Alberto Antonini. Today, there are several Malbecs from the region scoring over 95 points in Wine Spectator and Robert Parker's The Wine Advocate.Catena Zapata, "Wine.com"Achaval Ferrer, "Wine.com"Cobos, "Wine.com"Top 5 Wine Spectator , 'Wine Spectator, December 15, 2010.
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