Malbec became popular as the juicy, spicy, rich wine from Argentina; however, its story goes much farther back. It originally comes from South West France, specifically from Cahors where it is has been grown since the thirteenth century. Here it is THE grape. You can find smatterings of it elsewhere in France–it’s one of the five red grapes of Bordeaux (although a fairly minor player) and you can also find a little bit out of the Loire, as well as a blending grape in other areas of the South West. That said Cahors is the only place in France where Malbec (also known as Côt) gets top billing–it must make up at least 70% of the blend, although it can be combined with Merlot and Tannat. Malbec from Cahors tends to taste quite different from the super ripe versions from Argentina–it’s often more rustic, with more herbal and meaty/gamey notes.
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| Map courtesy of WineFolly.com |
So Malbec made its way to the New World, most likely brought over by immigrants moving from Europe. It laid low there for a while as a workhorse grape, making low cost bulk wines by the truckful for Argentinians to drink, not yet ready to make its debut on the world stage. (I mean “truckful” quite literally–it was transported by trucks, not at all well protected, where it would oxidize en route.)
Then the Catena family met winemaker and consultant Paul Hobbs in 1988 (or thereabouts.) Cue the makeover montage. The Catenas were longtime winegrowers in Mendoza, but Nicolás Catena wanted to take the wines to next level and create wines of international caliber. The Catenas eventually brought in Paul Hobbs as a consultant to help achieve these goals in 1989. Nicolás Catena actually initially wanted to abandon Malbec in favor or Cab and Chardonnay–fun fact, Paul Hobbs convinced them not to. Together they set Malbec on the path to its Cinderella story and the Catenas are still one of the benchmark producers of Argentine Malbec today. (As is Paul Hobbs, for that matter, with his Viña Cobos wines.)
Now it is time for our hero-grape to return home; but of course it’s been there all along. Of course the winemakers of Cahors have been noticing the popularity Malbec from Argentina has been enjoying and they’ve been taking notes.
