Wine Tasting: Malbec

 

It'd been a long time since I'd had any malbec. So long, in fact, that I didn't really remember what they're supposed to taste like. So here we are, trying malbecs! We had a small turnout for this one, but thanks to those who made it! 

Malbec is one of the oldest grape varietals, found in what is now France more than 2,000 years ago by the invading Romans. For many centuries, it was among the most popular wine varietals in France. Today, however, French farmers have replaced almost all of the malbec with hardier varietals. What little is grown in France now is mostly grown in the Cahors region. We had two nice, inexpensive examples from Cahors, one of which was the consensus favorite of the evening. 

Most contemporary malbec comes from Argentina, which is responsible for 75% of global production. In Argentina, the grape thrives at higher altitudes in the eastern foothills of the Andes, in a region known as Mendoza. We had 5 Argentinian malbecs, all of which struck me as offering extremely good value for money. In fact, overall, that was my impression: this stuff is a great wine value. I should be drinking it more often! 

Here's what we had, my favorites in bold. 

1. 2018 Jean-Luc Baldès "Malbec du Clos" Cahors ($15): 100% Malbec from the young vines grown on the 2nd terrace, which is known for its calcareous and sandy-clay soils. This cuvée sees no oak. This had the most earthy nose of the evening, and came across as simple, balanced, and pleasant on the palate.
2. 2019 Vaglio "Aggie" Malbec Uco Valley ($13): 100% Malbec from Capataz, a 52-acre vineyard planted in 2008 at 3,800 feet altitude in Gualtallary in the northern Uco Valley. The fruit is destemmed, then vinified with native yeasts over 40 days, then aged for 8 months, 40% in new French oak.
3. 2019 Familia Zuccardi "Poligonos" Malbec Pareje Altamira  ($25): no oak and no cultured yeasts is used to make this wine, sourced from a vineyard at 3,600 feet in altitude, somewhere between San Pablo (the lightest) and Gualtallary (the most structured). I thought this offered a very nice minerality that distinguished itself from #2, and staked out the more reserved end of the Argentine bottles.
4. 2018 Château Haut-Monplaisir "Tradition" Cahors ($17): 100% Malbec, brought up in concrete tanks and 30% neutral barrel. The consensus crowd favorite, and a great example of why it's so hard to compete with French winemakers, even at modest prices. Nice balance of structure and fruit, more linear than #1, but with more complexity than most of the Argentine competition here (but see #6, which I think edged it out).
5. 2017 Bodega Noemía de Patagonia "J. Alberto" Malbec Rio Negro Valley ($45): A single-vineyard bottling from a field blend that is mostly Malbec with some 5% Merlot. It fermented with 20% full clusters and natural yeasts for three weeks, then had an élevage of 11 months, when 15% of the volume was kept in egg-shaped vats, 20% in concrete tanks, and the rest in used barrels.
6. 2018 Catena Malbec Lunlunta Mendoza ($19): This wine comes from a vineyard planted in 1930 at 2700 feet. Fermented 100% full cluster in stainless steel, with half then aged in one-year-old French oak barrels. I thought this was fantastic, showing both a minerality and deep fruit, in excellent balance.
7. 2019 Catena Malbec Paraje Altamira Uco Valley ($20): This is from Altamira, in the Southern part of the Uco Valley. This was staking out the big, lush end of the spectrum. Delicious, but I thought it was outclassed by $6, which had more structure and likely would be a more versatile food wine.