Today’s the day - Malbec World Day, April 17, 2024 - to celebrate Malbec, the violet floral, juicy, herbal, full of red and black fruit with a smooth mouthfeel wine. While Malbec is Argentina’s national grape and the main grape variety of Mendoza, Malbec also grows around the world.
Did you know…
• Malbec is one of the five noble grape varieties of traditional Bordeaux wines - Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot and Malbec.
• Malbec grows in France, Argentina, the United States (California, Washington, Texas, Oregon, Arizona, Idaho), Chile, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand.
• Cahors, a region in southwest France, is considered Malbec’s birthplace. Also known as the black wine, here Cahors (the name for Malbec of this region) is much more tannic.
• In France’s Loire Valley, where Malbec also grows, the wines are known as Cot.
• Malbecs make lovely, crisp Rosé wines with texture and body.
The leading family in Malbec is the Catena family of Mendoza. Nicola Catena immigrated to Argentina from Italy and planted vines in 1902. Since then his family championed the grape, especially Nicolas Catena, who believed Malbec could make wines to rival the world’s best, and the Catenas have many 100 point wines to prove it. But we don’t want to give too much away! Fourth generation vintner and Catena Managing Director Laura Catena will be our podcast guest on Sip Sip Hooray! later this April and you’ll want to listen to her wonderful stories.
Speaking of stories, Laura and Catena Zapata’s winemaker Alejandro Vigil partnered to write the book Malbec Mon Amour. It’s an engaging, fun and colorful book about Malbec’s journey through history, culture and geography. This is not your typical dull wine book!
So wherever you are today, pop the cork on a bottle of Malbec and toast the day and the grape.