Malbec
Despite
the fact that many wine drinkers may have only come
into contact with Malbec in the last couple of years,
Malbec is one of only 6 grape varietals that were allowed
to be included in Bordeaux blends. Legend has it that
the grape is called Malbec after the Hungarian peasant
who first introduced the vine to France.
While Malbec is planted in the Bordeaux region of France,
it traditional home is the Cahors region of the South
of France. However, while Cahors produces some excellent
wines, when the wine has a nickname of “Black
Wine” due to is colour, may have been off putting
to some consumers. Phylloxera in the late 1800’s
and terrible frost in the 1950’s caused huge damage
to the Cahors region. It was really with the emergence
of the Malbec varietal in Argentina, Mendoza in particular,
when the wider wine world became interested in the varietal
again. |
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The Malbec grape
is quite thinned skinned grape, needs a good deal
of heat and sunshine to ripen correctly. Malbec
is an earlier ripener, however in Argentina where
the high altitude helps to create a cooler climate
creates an extended growing season.
This is crucial to the newer styled Malbec wines
as it generates the extra ripeness that consumer
demands but also maintains balance by conserving
acidity. One area of concern for winemakers is
that Malbec can be prone to rot in wet weather
conditions, obviously this is not as much a concern
in Argentina! |
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Malbec was first introduced
into Argentina in the 1850’s, however the cuttings
that were planted were from the Bordeaux region, where
Malbec along with Cabernet Sauvignon/Merlot/Cabernet
Franc/Petit Verdot/Carmenere were the 6 varietals that
could be blended to produce red Bordeaux. However, the
Malbec that thrives in Argentina today is very different
to that of Bordeaux with the berries being smaller in
size. In Cahors, Malbec is blended with Tannat and Merlot,
this wine is much darker, and savoury in style.
The future is very bright for Malbec, with different
styles of wine coming from different parts of the
wine world. Argentina is producing some fantastic
big rich wines with black fruits, herby notes, spice,
pepper, good structure and aging capacity. These are
very different from the savoury, more austere style
of wine that is coming out of Cahors. There is undoubted
a place in the Market for both styles, and with other
countries such as Chile, Australia and New Zealand
planting Malbec the consumer will be even more spoilt
for choice in the future.
I am a big fan of Malbec, and think that it works
well in as a single varietal, where producers such
as Catena, Alta Vista, Norton, and Pascual Toso produce
good solid wines in this style. It also works very
well as part of a blend of with other varietals such
as Merlot, Tannat, and even Cabernet, here Malbec
adds some lovely aromatics and help broaden and fatten
out the wine.
If you would like to learn more about Malbec, and
this style of wine the following are some good locally
available options to try ;
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Argento Malbec 2007 –
Lovely Colour, good Blackfruits, good structure,
velvet tannins, fantastic value!
[Available – Thomas Woodberries, Tesco, O’
Briens – Price Bracket – approx €7.99]
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Michel Torino Malbec 2006 –
Good Colour, Excellent concentration on the fruit
– think plums and cherries. Ripe but not jammy,
with fine tannins, fantastic value yet again.
[Widely Available – Price Bracket –
Under €10]
If you are interested in tasting how Malbec is used
to bulk out other varietals through blending, the
next two wines while a little more expensive score
extremely highly on the QPR[Quality/Price Ratio]
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Clos de Los Siete 2005 –
This vineyard is one of Michel Rolland’s projects
and this wine at 40% Malbec, 20% Cabernet Sauvignon,
20% Merlot, and 20% Syrah is a fantastic representation
of such a blend. This wine has a fantastic dark
colour to it, with gorgeous black fruits with blackcurrant,
blueberry and spice to the forefront. The wine is
balanced, lush, ripe but not in any way jammy. Just
a very good wine that has benefited from the high
altitude vineyards that I mentioned above. Seek
this wine out, at €17.99 is more expensive
then the other wines that I mentioned above but
trust me it is worth every penny. This wine has
won numerous awards, and the 05 Vintage recently
got awarded 90 points by Jay Miller[Writes for Robert
Parker] so that is high praise indeed.
[Available from O’Briens
at €17.99]
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Waterwheel Memsie Bendigo 2006
– An Australian [Victoria to be precise] blend
of Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Malbec. The Memsie
is a similar blend to the Clos de Los Siete. But
the Bendigo is a much more fun wine, with sweet
ripe blackfruits – think blackberries and
plums, and a lovely touch of spice on the nose.
On the palate this wine is medium bodied with good
black fruit concentration, balance and velvety smoothness
– this wine is screaming out for barbequed
foods – it is not the sort of wine to sit
around an analyse but one to sit down with friends,
relax and enjoy. Again, this wine has won numerous
awards, been awarded 90 points by Jay Miller[Writes
for Robert Parker] and described as “Sheer
Pleasure” by TV’s Oz Clarke.
[Available from the Vineyard
Galway – Price Bracket – Under €15]
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(c) RobertFrancisWine.ie |
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