Photos : Dusk at Valle de Uco Lodge ; Malbec grapes forming clusters ( photos by Mike Muirhead )
The Higher You Climb , the Harder You Fall
Every fairy tale needs a villain . Meet phylloxera . This opportunistic insect hitched a ride across the Atlantic on the roots of American grapevines . Botanical collections were all the rage at the time and travellers were quick to bring curiosities from the New World back to Europe . Little did they know the chaos they were about to unleash . Over the course of millions of years , North American grapevines had developed a resistance to the destructive effects of the phylloxera louse ; the same could not be said of European grape varieties . Vines across France began to die from a “ mysterious ” disease and Malbec was hit particularly hard . By the time a solution was discovered , the French wine industry was in shambles . Producers who could afford to replant their vineyards ( using European vines grafted onto resistant American rootstock ) chose not to replant Malbec due to its severe susceptibility to the disease . Acreage plummeted across Bordeaux , and Malbec found itself playing a distant second fiddle to hardier varieties such as Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot . Any hope Malbec had of making a comeback in Bordeaux was dashed by the infamous frost of 1956 . Combined with its susceptibility to phylloxera , its difficult reputation in the vineyard was enough to convince most growers that enough was enough . For all intents and purposes , Malbec was abandoned in Bordeaux .
Today , there remain only a few small areas in France known for producing Malbec-based wines . Most notably , the appellation of Cahors has based its reputation on this finicky grape variety . Referred to as Côt or Auxerrois , ( only two of the over 1,000 synonyms that exist as a testament to its once widespread fame ), the wines often possess a rustic charm and benefit from mid-term aging . Outside of Cahors , Malbec plays a small role in the Loire Valley and the Languedoc . With such limited production within France , many Malbec fans may never have tasted a French example . Instead , lovers of this wonderful grape are much more likely to look toward Argentina to satisfy their cravings .
The Prince Regains His Throne
Argentina is blessed with a culture deeply rooted in wine and a passion for the vine . With a large percentage of its population originating from France , Italy , and Spain , it would seem inevitable that a wine industry would develop . In fact , the Argentine government so admired the viticultural prowess of the French that it funded scientific vine collection expeditions to France . Vine cuttings ( including Malbec ) were selected from some of France ’ s most prestigious vineyards and carried back to Argentina . At the time , no one could imagine just how valuable these cuttings would become , as their French parent vines were to soon fall victim to the evil phylloxera . Malbec eventually came to be planted throughout Argentina ; however , the high-yielding Criolla grape dominated in terms of acreage . When the industry shifted its focus from bulk to boutique in the late twentieth century , precious old plots of pre-phylloxera Malbec vines were rediscovered and the re-ascent to glory began .
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