Malbec, Oh Lovely Malbec!
Malbec from Argentina, words that are now very familiar and even loved by those of us who quaff red wine! Almost all wine lovers have tasted Malbec from this South American giant and most will have lots of it in on their shelves waiting for friends to come round.
“Good Argentine Malbec, and there is a great deal of it, as Argentina is one of the world’s most prolific wine producers, is deeply
Jancis Robinson – Wine critic, journalist, and writer.
Today 80% of the world´s Malbec is produced in Argentina, with Chile, France, Australia, South Africa, and the USA also making a contribution. So Argentina is obviously the king of volume but also scores very highly on quality with wineries winning awards and achieving high rankings year after year.
This dark red wine with robust tannin hails from Cahors in south-west France, not far from Bordeaux. The grape was almost given up on by the French as it suffers greatly from diseases and poor climate. It is still one of the six varieties that are permitted in the red Bordeaux blend, although the classic blend is simply Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot.
Sales volumes for this relative newcomer have exploded over the last 10 years and is now one of our favorite wines to buy at the supermarket. There are a number of reasons for this. It is very affordable (major plus point) and easy to drink, with or without food, and there is so much to choose from you can always find a bottle to suit.
After the cold period of winter, dormancy ends the climate in Mendoza becomes very warm, with a very high diurnal temperature range, is stable and very grapevine healthy (windy, clean, dry air combined with altitude) and therefore has proved much easier on the grape than its native land. Argentina is, therefore, producing great quality, consistent vintages year after year.
The Malbec grape is relatively thin-skinned and needs more quality sunlight than Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot to reach maturity, again something which is not a problem in the sunny, high altitude slopes of the Andes. The grape offers a relatively high level of tannin, a deep color plus a particular plummy flavor and is often used to add complexity to certain blends. For example with Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot in the traditional Bordeaux Blend as we mentioned earlier and also with Cabernet Franc and Gamay for wines from the Loire Valley region. In Argentina, the variety is produced most often as a 100% Malbec varietal, and the Argentines are very proud of it.
The marketing team at Altos Las Hormigas winery put it nicely when they say “that fastidious farming on carefully chosen, high-altitude limestone terroirs in Mendoza produce complex and distinctive wines. Our “Terroir” Malbec is a testament to this ethos, limestone-derived minerality and subtle fruit predominate. Less Malbec and more Argentina”.
There are so many high-quality producers in Mendoza that it is really difficult to select just a few to include on wine tours for our guests but the prestigious Catena Zapata (pictured above) is a true pioneer of the Argentine Malbec industry and should always be visited while in Mendoza.
There are many other big players in the world of Malbec. Lujan de Cuyo and the Uco Valley are blessed with high-investment, both foreign and domestic. Feel free to browse the pages shown below and watch our drone videos of some of the impressive wineries in Mendoza.
Want more? Go the Full Monty with the wine tour below:
