One of the six permitted red varieties of Bordeaux, where this grape plays an ever-decreasing role. Further in its native France, Malbec is the primary varietal in the wines of Cahors (Southwest France), a vastly underappreciated wine with great depth and charm. Malbec is a thick-skinned grape that needs more sun to ripen than its Bordeaux counterparts, and it prefers the climate of Cahors. The wines are medium-high in tannins but are not at all bracing, with deep plum and black fruit flavors.
Despite its French roots, many new wine drinkers erroneously assume that the varietal is from Argentina. While Malbec vineyards in France are shrinking, they are rapidly growing in Argentina, especially in Mendoza. Argentine Malbec offers an irresistible flavor profile for many New World wine drinkers, thanks to its deep colors, fruity aromas, and juicy blackberry and cherry flavors, delivered on a silky texture.
Malbec has also flourished in America’s Pacific Northwest, particularly Washington State and Oregon’s Rogue Valley. These Malbec wines stylistically sit somewhere between Cahors’s dense, earthy, and spicy wines and Argentina’s fruit-forward, chocolatey wines.
Also called: Auxerrois in Cahors, Côt, Pressac
Back to Global Wine Grapes Home
Do you want to better understand Wine & grapes? May we suggest Be A Beverage Expert (BABE), a guide to understanding wine, beer, spirits, and cocktails.