| This month Argentina and Uruguay both celebrate their unlikely champion grape varieties with Malbec Day on 17th April and Tannat Day on 14th April. ‘Grape days’ like this are, of course, conspicuous marketing tactics to drive sales. But these two grape varieties do deserve some celebration as their rise to become the leading varieties in each country was hardly an easy feat.
From the ‘French grape’ to a bonafide Argentine classic
Malbec has a long and largely unglamorous history in Argentina. It was first planted in the 1850s, along with a cartload of other European (mainly French) varieties imported from France at the time.
Uptake of these new international varieties was gradual, but by the early 20th century, as Malbec was so well suited to the arid climate, it had undisputedly thrived through natural selection. It now accounted for three-quarters of Argentina’s vineyards. It was an unsung hero through, and not even called by name, simply known as the cepa francesa – the French grape.
Although it provided good quality, Malbec was very low yielding. And so, in the heyday of Argentina’s jug wine production – the late 1900s – much of it was uprooted in favour of higher yielding varieties. And then in the 1990s, when Argentina set its sights on conquering the export market, no-one wanted to make this unknown variety its calling card. Instead, the ubiquitous Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay were pitched as Argentina’s new flagship grapes.
Malbec plantings dwindled. Between the 1960s and 1990s, over 80 percent of Argentina’s Malbec was uprooted, and it seemed like a lost cause.
However, Malbec’s fate turned once again. A few winemakers showed Malbec to visiting trade in Mendoza in the late 1990s, and this unloved grape piqued their interest. Positive international reviews gradually convinced winery owners that there might be an opportunity for Argentina to make its name with something a bit different. By the early 2000s there were a handful of converts who gave the cepa francesa a new Argentine passport to the world.
The rest is history. Malbec today has rightly assumed its throne, and accounts for a fifth of Argentina’s vines and the lion’s share of exports. Not only is Malbec a very appealing variety, but it can also be one of the most exciting. There is no other variety that showcases the terroirs of Argentina so well. From the intense, bold and meaty Malbec wines of the towering altitudes of Jujuy to the elegant, fine and silky Malbecs of Altamira, or the boney and linear Malbec wines of Gualtallary.
No longer an unrequited cepa francesa, Malbec today proves itself invaluable to Argentina’s vinous identity, and that certainly deserves celebration.
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