All About Majestic Malbec

By:


Malbec is a truly globetrotting grape, with its original home being in Cahos in France, and its favoured, spiritual home being in Argentina.
This wine boasts plenty of body and flavours of bramble fruits and damsons.

Many of the Malbec vines existing in Argentina in the present day were planted there before the outbreak of phylloxera in France by Professor Pouet in 1868, who took the vines there from Bordeaux. The vines flourished in the extensive sunlight and soil conditions which gave the wine produced more flavour, depth and vigour, and it was as if the wine had found its spiritual home.

Malbecs from Argentina tend to have less tannins than those produced in France, and are more fruitily-flavoured. You may also notice it being labelled as Malbeck as this is often what it is called in Argentina.

Different regions within Argentina produce differently-flavoured wines. Choose wines from the central region of Mendoza if you want typical New World-type wine with lots of flavour and fruit, and wines that are higher in alcohol. The cooler climate in Rio Negro produces drier-type wines more akin to the Old World varieties that age well.

French examples of the wine are generally considered to be short-lived and don't age particularly well.
Food pairing

Malbec is great when paired with big-flavoured meats. Argentinian cuisine favours beef, with steak grills being staple, and so the Argentinian variety of this wine goes down very well when paired with this type of cuisine.

The wine also goes very well with the sweet flavour of sticky ribs.

Old World-style Malbecs are more tannic and go well with plainer meats including roast beef.

French variety

At one time the grape was planted in almost every area of France, but its sensitivity to frost and tendency to coulure or shatter have led to a reduction in planting.

There are hundreds of local synonyms in France for the grape, including Cot and Auxerrois, and it is still the dominant red grape planted in the Cahors region, where the Appellation Controlee regulations state that minimum grape content must be 70 per cent.

For your first stab at this wine, buy a good, medium-priced Argentinian variety and enjoy with good, meat-based cuisine. Although having said this, don't let wine rules and regulations dictate too much; if you enjoy your red with unconventional cuisine, this is entirely your prerogative and you shouldn't feel pressured to drink it only with the foods that the experts dictate!


About the Author:
Dominic Donaldson is a wine expert. Find out more about Malbec and the great deals available.



Article Originally Published On: http://www.articlesnatch.com


|

Loading...
Related....
Videos...

Recent UnCategorized Articles

Comments

Still can't find what you are looking for? Search for it!

Loading

Copyright 2005-2011 ArticleSnatch, LLC - All Rights Reserved.
Privacy Policy | Terms of Service.