Malbec

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For the Los Angeles-based band, see Malbec (band).
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Malbec
Grape (Vitis)
Malbec grapes
Color of berry skinBlack
SpeciesVitis vinifera
Also calledAuxerrois in Cahors, Côt, Pressac (more)
OriginFrance
Notable regionsArgentina, Cahors
VIVC number2889

Malbec (pronounced

Argentine varietal
.

The grape became less popular in Bordeaux after 1956 when

full-bodied wines, but have ventured into 100% Malbec varietal wines more recently.[1]

A popular but unconfirmed theory claims that Malbec is named after a Hungarian peasant who first spread the grape variety throughout France.

Burgundy.[3] 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.[1] 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.[4]

The Malbec grape is a thin-skinned grape and needs more sun and heat than either

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.[6]

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.[4] Other wine regions use the grape to produce Bordeaux-style blends.[7] The varietal is sensitive to frost and has a propensity for shattering or coulure.[6]

Malbec leaves

Viticulture

Malbec is very susceptible to various

clones and vineyard management techniques have helped control some of these potential problems.[3] 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.[1] There are distinct ampelographical differences in the clones of Malbec found in France and in Argentina, with Argentine Malbec tending to have smaller berries.[8]

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, USA, 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.[9]

Regions

Malbec is the dominant red variety in Cahors where the

Buenos Aires
.

Mexico
.

France

A vineyard in Cahors

At one point Malbec was grown in 30 different

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.[3]

Though the grape was historically a major planting in

Côtes-de-Bourg, Blaye and Entre-Deux-Mers.[3]

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

cuttings from France to Argentina. Among the vines that Pouget brought were the very first Malbec vines to be planted in the country.[10] 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.[3] 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 and Buenos Aires.[10]

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.[11] Argentine Malbec wine is characterized by its deep color and intense fruity flavors with a velvety texture.[12] 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.[3]

High altitude Mendoza Malbec

Argentina's most highly rated Malbec wines originate from

Andes mountains between 800 m and 1500 m elevation (2,800 to 5,000 feet).[13][14][15][16]

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.[13][17][18][19] 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.[13] He was also the first to develop a clonal selection of Argentine Malbec.[20][21][22][23]

High-altitude Mendoza has attracted many notable foreign winemakers, such as Paul Hobbs,

Robert Parker's The Wine Advocate.[24][25][26][27]

Chile

Although Carménère is the emblematic strain of Chilean wine and other varieties of strains such as Cabernet Souvignon, Merlot, Pinot noir among others are harvested in the country, Malbec has experienced exponential growth in its production during the last decades, due to the discovery of hundred-year-old vines of the variety, as well as the year-on-year increase in hectares planted for its exclusive production in the country. It is currently estimated that in Chile there are 2,361 hectares dedicated exclusively to the production of Malbec.[28]

The history of malbec in Chile begins in 1841, when a group of French winemakers brought the vine to the country, along with other varieties to be planted in the

Santiago , later in 1853 the first malbec strains would be exported from Chile to Argentina, specifically to the Mendoza region.[29]

At the end of the century XIX, French winemakers began to expand Malbec plantations to other regions of the central-south zone of Chile, however they mixed them with other varieties, so the production of Malbec gradually faded over the years, as was the case in the Maule Region, since centenary Malbec vines that had been mixed with other vines were discovered a few years ago in the area. It was not until 1993 that the Viu Manent vineyard became the first Chilean winery to produce, bottle and market 100% Malbec wines produced in the country, from the vineyard they had for more than 100 years in the city of Santa Cruz in the Colchagua where this variety was found. In 2016, a hundred-year-old Malbec plantation was also discovered in the city of San Rosendo, in the Biobío Region, which was brought to the area by French settlers at the end of the 19th century, which had also been blended with other vines from the area.[30]

Currently, the largest amount of Malbec production in Chile is located in the Maule Region, however there are also important plantations of the strain in the Biobío regions and in the Colchagua Valley area. The Terroir of the Maule Region is granitic, which causes the malbec of the area to contain a special minerality, in addition the influence of the coast and the mountains give acidity and freshness to the Chilean malbec, these conditions cause an important difference in its par Also, Chilean Malbec tends to have a fresher and more fruity flavor, because it is not harvested as ripe as other Malbec productions in the world.

United States

paired
with a steak

Prior to

Sonoma Valley.[7]

Other regions in California with some plantings of Malbec include

Oak Knoll District
,
Yountville.[7]

Yakima Valley.[7] Elsewhere in Washington State, Malbec is planted in the Lake Chelan AVA
where it has consistently produced wines of exceptional quality.

Other AVAs in the

Georgia outside of federally delineated appellations.[7]

Other regions

Malbec is characterized by its dark coloring.

The success of Malbec led some producers in

blind tasting at the Decanter World Wine awards.[32]

The grapevine was introduced to

bulk wine producing grape. The particular clones planted in Australia were of poor quality and highly susceptible to coulure, frost and downy mildew. By the mid to late 20th century, many acres of Malbec were uprooted and planted with different varieties. By 2000, there were slightly over 1,235 acres (500 hectares), with the Clare Valley and Langhorne Creek having the most significant amount. As newer clones become available, plantings of Malbec in Australia have increased slightly.[3]

Other regions with some plantings of Malbec include north Italy,

Canadian regions of British Columbia and Ontario, Peru, Bolivia and Mexico, and Southern Indiana and Israeli wine in the Negev Teperberg 1870
.

Wine

Wine expert

phenolic compounds that contribute to its dark color.[1] Oz Clarke describes Cahors' Malbec as dark purple in color with aromas of damsons, tobacco, garlic, and raisin. In Argentina, Malbec becomes softer with a plusher texture and riper tannins. The wines tend to have juicy fruit notes with violet aromas. In very warm regions of Argentina and Australia, the acidity of the wine may be too low which can cause a wine to taste flabby and weak.[8] Malbec grown in Washington state tends to be characterized by dark fruit notes and herbal aromas.[31]

Synonyms

Malbec grapes growing in Cafayate, Argentina

The French ampelographer Pierre Galet has documented over a thousand different synonyms for Malbec, stemming in part from its peak period when it was growing in 30 different departments of France. While Malbec is the name most commonly known to wine drinkers, Galet suggest that Côt was most likely the grape variety's original name and the frequent appearance of Auxerrois as a synonym suggests the northern reaches of Burgundy as being the possible home of the varietal. In Bordeaux, where the variety first gained attention, it was known under the synonym Pressac.[3]

Other common synonyms for Malbec include Agreste, Auxerrois, Auxerrois De Laquenexy, Auxerrois Des Moines De Picpus, Auxerrois Du Mans, Balouzat, Beran, Blanc De Kienzheim, Cahors, Calarin, Cauli, Costa Rosa, Côt, Cot A Queue Verte, Cotes Rouges, Doux Noir, Estrangey, Gourdaux, Grelot De Tours, Grifforin, Guillan, Hourcat, Jacobain, Luckens, Magret, Malbek, Medoc Noir, Mouranne, Navarien, Negre De Prechac, Negrera, Noir De Chartres, Noir De Pressac, Noir Doux, Nyar De Presak, Parde, Périgord, Pied De Perdrix, Pied Noir, Pied Rouge, Pied Rouget, Piperdy, Plant D'Arles, Plant De Meraou, Plant du Lot, Plant Du Roi, Prechat, Pressac, Prunieral, Quercy, Queue Rouge, Quille De Coy, Romieu, Teinturin, Terranis, Vesparo.[33]

See also

References

  1. ^
    ISBN 1-85732-999-6
  2. ^ "A short history of Malbec". Uncork: wine tidbits.
  3. ^
    ISBN 0-19-860990-6
    .
  4. ^ a b Epicurious Wine Dictionary Malbec Definition Archived 2006-03-28 at the Wayback Machine
  5. ^ Cellar notes Malbec Grape Variety
  6. ^ a b c Winepros Malbec Archived 2016-01-18 at the Wayback Machine
  7. ^ a b c d e f Appellation America Malbec Wine Grape
  8. ^
    ISBN 0-15-100714-4
    .
  9. ^ 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 .
  10. ^
    ISBN 978-3-8331-4611-4
    .
  11. ISBN 1-84000-332-4
    .
  12. ISBN 1-56305-434-5
    .
  13. ^
    ISBN 978-0-8118-7330-7
    .
  14. ^
    ISBN 978-987-20926-3-4
    .
  15. ^ Wine Tours: Argentina – Mendoza Archived 2011-01-12 at the Wayback Machine, "Fly Fishing Patagonia"
  16. ^ Wine Tip: Malbec Madness, Wine Spectator, April 12, 2010
  17. ^ Pierre-Antoine Rovani's Wine Personalities of the Year Archived 2012-03-13 at the Wayback Machine, Robert Parker Jr.'s The Wine Advocate. Issue 156, December 2004, August 27, 2009
  18. ^ Nicolás Catena honoured as Decanter Man of the Year, Decanter.com. September 18, 2009.
  19. ^ "The Might of Mendoza: the romantic tale behind Argentina's booming malbec grape", The Independent, June 2014.
  20. ^ [1] , malbecnerds.com, August 27, 2009.
  21. ^ The crusade against counterfeits Archived 2011-10-09 at the Wayback Machine, 'Wine Spectator, December 15, 2009.
  22. ^ Four Magazine Archived 2016-12-27 at the Wayback Machine, Wine Spectator, 2012.
  23. ^ Nicolás Catena Such Great Heights, Gismondi, Anthony, Montecristo Magazine, November 7, 2014.
  24. ^ Catena Zapata, "Wine.com"
  25. ^ Achaval Ferrer, "Wine.com"
  26. ^ Cobos, "Wine.com"
  27. ^ Top 5 Wine Spectator Archived 2012-03-28 at archive.today, 'Wine Spectator, December 15, 2010.
  28. ^ "Malbec: One Variety, Two Origins". Concha Y Toro. April 13, 2022.
  29. ^ "Malbec: an emblematic strain of Argentina with Chilean history". La Tercera. September 18, 2020.
  30. ^ "A pure centennial Malbec, rediscovered in southern Chile thanks to the climate". Swissinfo. 5 May 2016.
  31. ^
    ISBN 0-520-24869-4
  32. ^ This £4.37 Asda red wine has been named best in show by industry experts, Evening Standard, June 10, 2016.
  33. ^ Maul, E.; Eibach, R. (1999). "Vitis International Variety Catalogue". Information and Coordination Centre for Biological Diversity (IBV) of the Federal Agency for Agriculture and Food (BLE), Deichmanns Aue 29, 53179 Bonn, Germany. Archived from the original on 2007-04-27. Retrieved 2007-04-24.
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