Grape · Cahors, France
Malbec
mal-BEK
Cahors' child, Mendoza's star
Inky, plush, and violet-scented. Malbec left southwest France, found altitude in Argentina, and became the weeknight red of a continent.
- blackberry
- violet
- cocoa
- plum
- graphite
Profile
Cahors still bottles it as Côt: darker, more tannic, more limestone. Mendoza — especially Luján de Cuyo and the Uco Valley — gives riper fruit, rounder tannin, and the violet perfume people mean when they say Malbec. Altitude is the freshness trick: cool nights keep acid in a high-sun grape.
It can be a jam bomb at low elevation and a serious, floral mountain wine at 1,200 metres. Read the valley, not just the grape.
Empanadas, grilled beef, and hard cheese are the obvious table. A cooler bottle beats a warm one.
At the table
Service
59–63 °F (15–17 °C). Mountain Malbec can take a brief decant.
