Ep 599: The Grape Miniseries Refresh - Malbec

About this episode

This episode covers the history and characteristics of the Malbec grape, its rise to fame in Argentina, and food pairings.

This week I cover Malbec, or Côt as it's known in its native home of Southwest France. This old red grape variety has long history in France and was once one of its most planted grapes. But due to pickiness in the vineyard and harshness in the bottle, Malbec fell out of favor in its native country. Despite being a big component in the Bordeaux blend, the grape remained in relative obscurity until it hit South America, particularly Argentina. Although it wasn't an overnight success, Malbec hung around Argentina for about 150 years and then got its moment in the sun (literally). Today 75% of the world's Malbec grows in Argentina. Photo: Malbec grape. Source: Getty Images via Canva From a combination of factors and circumstances that worked perfectly for Malbec, the grape took on premium status in the 1990s in Argentina and rocketed into fame through the 2000s. It was then that Cahors, the native home of the grape changed some of its techniques to make its native grape shine in a different style. Others followed, but these two titans of the grape remain the best. In the show I discuss the history of the grape, it's not so cooperative nature in the vineyard, the key to making good…

People in this episode

Host: Elizabeth Schneider

Topics covered

• Malbec
• wine history
• food pairings
• vineyard techniques
• Argentinian wine

Keywords

• Malbec
• Côt
• Southwest France
• Argentina
• wine history
• Bordeaux blend
• Cahors
• food pairings

Mentioned in this episode

Products: Malbec

Places: Southwest France, Argentina, Cahors

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