In a country where the winemaking tradition is as deeply rooted in the culture as tango, football or asado, Malbec has won its place as an ambassador, becoming the flagship grape of Argentina par excellence. A classic varietal, known the world over, it is constantly being reinvented by a restless generation of agronomists and winemakers willing to take Malbec beyond the limits of the imagination. Under the slogan Malbec Argentino: You know me and you don’t, this edition will put the accent on the richness and diversity of a variety whose potential is yet to be discovered. Malbec World Day is a global initiative that seeks to position Argentine Malbec in the world and celebrate the success of the wine industry.

Malbec Argentino: exploring terroir

In the last decade, Argentine viticulture has turned its gaze to terroir to understand its influence on wines, and in this ambitious challenge, Malbec has been the key: it became the tool for understanding each terroir and interpreting the differences. Malbec grew from 10 thousand hectares to 40 thousand in the 25 years from 1990 to 2015, reaching 57% of the total wine exported. This opened the door to the discovery of an inexhaustible range of Malbec profiles associated with terroir. A new generation has pushed the wine border westward, up into the mountains, and south and east, seeking the cold of the southern latitudes and the influence of the ocean.

While the line of a thousand metres above sea level (m.a.s.l) defines a style of Malbec with ripe fruit and spices, good body and voluminous tannins, the new frontier offers a profile of fresh and floral fruit, medium to full bodied with juicy tannins and an abundance of freshness. An unexplored universe for a world-recognized strain.

Many different styles of Malbec are emerging from Argentina producers’ focus on precision of origin, reflecting the diversity of Argentina’s terroir. The 3D winemaking concept explains that Argentina is the only country who adds altitude as an important factor of terroir.

Latitude, altitude and mountains

The Andes is a set of mountain ranges running in a North-South direction with different
formations in time and geological morphology. Areas in the Cuyo region, such as Luján de Cuyo, San Juan and La Rioja, are at the foot of very old and eroded mountain ranges (some 500 million years old), while the Uco Valley is located at the foot of another range, higher and newer in geological terms, known as the Cordillera Frontal (100 million years).

The most important aspect from a viticultural point of view is that these mountains offer
variable altitudes according to vine planting in valleys or plains, with proximity or distance to the mountains. Altitude serves as a temperature regulator, so that for every 150 meters of linear rise over a point on the map, the average temperature will drop by 1oC. If the isotherms of the Argentine west are observed, the pattern is clear: the lines move parallel between valleys and slopes copying the relief.

There is a compensation between altitude and latitude, which results in the same average temperature in Cafayate (in the northern region of Salta) as in San Patricio del Chañar (in the southern region of Patagonia); two viticultural areas that are approximately 1,800 km apart. What changes is the pattern of maximum and minimum temperatures and that produces pronounced effects in the wine. This situation is what allows the planting of almost exactly the same varieties throughout the West. In Mendoza, vineyard areas occupy extensive areas of the plains about 700 to 1000 m.a.s.l, following the fringes of the isotherms, delineated by the contours of the soil. In Salta, the fringes narrow and form closed perimeters between 1700 and 3100 m.a.s.l.

In the same way, the higher up one goes in the valleys and on the hillsides, the soil becomes increasingly defining as a viability factor for the vine. The soil expands or compresses the temperature range. So, since the early 2000s, when producers began experimenting with vineyards at new heights, the question of soil became a new field of study, and as a result, the Cordillera and its geology took on new prominence.

Why is World Malbec Day celebrated on April 17th?

The origin of Malbec can be found in the southwest of France. Here they have been cultivating this grape and making wines in the appellation of Cahors since the days of the Roman Empire.

By the late nineteenth century, the phylloxera plague had destroyed the French vineyards, so the "Cot" was forgotten, leaving, however, a culture of appreciation for Malbec.

Some time later, Malbec Argentino appeared. This strain arrived in Argentina in 1853 in the hands of Michel Aimé Pouget (1821-1875), a French agronomist who was hired by Domingo Faustino Sarmiento to carry out the management of the Agricultural Quinta de Mendoza.

Modelled on France, the initiative proposed adding new grape varieties to enhance the national wine industry. On April 17, 1853, with the support of the governor of Mendoza, Pedro Pascual Segura, a project was presented to the Provincial Legislature, with a view to establishing a Quinta Normal and Agricultural School. This project was approved by the House of Representatives on September 6 of that year.

In the late nineteenth century, with the help of Italian and French immigrants, the wine industry grew exponentially, and with it, Malbec, which quickly adapted to the various terroirs, and developed with even better results than in its region of origin. Thus, over time and with a lot of hard work, Malbec emerged as the flagship grape of Argentina.

The management of Pouget and Sarmiento in the Quinta Normal de Mendoza was a crucial part of this process. The 17th of April is, for Wines of Argentina, not only a symbol of the transformation of Argentina's wine industry, but also the starting point for the development of this strain, an emblem for the country worldwide.

For more information:

Liz Luzza, Wines of Argentina (Ontario & Atlantic Canada)
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
(416) 951-0672
Twitter/@winesofarg 
facebook/winesofargentina
winesofargentina.com