190 lines
6.2 KiB
Plaintext
Executable File
190 lines
6.2 KiB
Plaintext
Executable File
foodanddrink
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wine
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3344088
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-----
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# Malbec: a French wine with an Argentine twist
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## Jonathan Ray visits Argentina, the new spiritual home of an old-world
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wine, to find out why French winemakers are falling in love with Malbec all
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over again.
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Jonathan Ray 12:01AM BST 20 Jun 2008
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[Comments][1]
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They do like their beef in Argentina. For the sixth meal running, I'm faced
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with a saddle-sized slab of bleeding sirloin without so much as a hint of
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greens.
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But it is so absurdly tasty and melt-in-the-mouth tender that I wolf it down.
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And I help it on its way with a cracking bottle of local malbec for which I'm
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also developing a taste. That should give me enough vitamins.
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I am in the Uco Valley in Mendoza in what appears to be a little corner of
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France. My host, winemaker Jean Bousquet, hails from Carcassonne and so
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impenetrable is his accent, with its hybrid Languedoc/Argentine twang, that
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half the time I can't tell whether he's speaking French or Spanish.
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Somehow we make each other understood.
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"I came here because I was tired of making wine in France, with its petty
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regulations and crippling costs," he explains. "I had heard tell of Mendoza
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and once I saw its perfect weather, soil, aspect and altitude, I knew it was
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for me. I planned to grow pinot noir and chardonnay, but once I tasted other
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people's wines I realised that malbec was the key. I dug up my vines and
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started again."
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Some 70 per cent of Argentina's wines come from Mendoza and although some
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great cabernets and merlots are made here, malbec, the most planted variety,
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is king.
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Once widely grown in Bordeaux, nowadays the grape is barely seen outside
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Cahors in south-west France and Mendoza is fast proving to be its spiritual
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home.
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"It's a minor player in France now, but a major player here, capable of great
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things," says Bousquet. "Somewhere in style between cabernet and merlot,
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Argentine malbec has colour, structure and wonderful fruit. It's ideal for
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making fine, competitive wines.
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"Winemakers are restricted in France, but here we are free to make the wines
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we like in the way we want and malbec is a joy to work with. I'm not in exile
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here, I'm in paradise."
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Bousquet's fellow countryman, the fabled Michel Rolland, consultant winemaker
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to some of the world's finest wineries, has also set up shop in Mendoza.
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Clos de los Siete is a spectacular, state of the art operation backed by a
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number of high profile French investors including the Cuvelier family (of
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Chateau Leoville-Poyferre fame) and Baron Benjamin de Rothschild (of Chateau
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Clarke).
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An 850 hectare (2,100 acre) estate at the foot of the staggering snow-capped
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Andes, it is a unique collaboration of seven wineries, all making their own
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wines as well as contributing to one joint one, Clos de los Siete itself.
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"Here it is all about [**malbec**][2]," explains general manager Carlos Tizio
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Mayer. "The grape was brought from France to Argentina via Chile in the 1860s
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and prospered after 150 years of careful selection using the best cuttings. I
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believe the variety has developed into something quite distinct from French
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malbec.
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"It is a genetic gem with superb colour and acidity and is perfectly suited to
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Mendoza. Do you think Michel Rolland and his associates came here because it
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was cheap? Don't be absurd! They came here because of quality. They could have
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gone anywhere in the world, but chose malbec and Mendoza."
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So, too, did François and Jacques Lurton down the road, scions of the
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illustrious Bordelais family. François recently bought out his brother and
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although by a strange quirk he is having huge success with pinot gris (he
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ordered chardonnay cuttings from France, was sent pinot gris by mistake,
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planted it anyway and loved the result), his malbec is a thing of wonder.
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Jean-Pierre Thibaud, former CEO of sparkling wine producer Bodegas Chandon and
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now owner of Ruca Malen, is yet another Frenchman (well, sort of: he was born
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in Argentina, but of French parents) making the most of malbec in Mendoza.
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"We don't yet fully appreciate the jewel we have," he says. "That we can make
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superb wines here is not in doubt. Our consultants tell us they can't believe
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the quality of our fruit. We have 330 days of sunshine a year and haven't had
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a bad vintage since 1998.
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"Our vineyards are planted at high altitude where it is sunny but cool. We
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harvest fully ripened grapes with thick skins which is great for colour,
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structure and silky tannins. I'd say our biggest challenge isn't the weather,
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but the management of our country's economy."
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As well as these French-flavoured wineries, I visit Salentein, Sophenia,
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Benvenuto de la Serna, Antucura, Catena and Fournier. Some are small, others
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are vast and modern. Some are dedicated simply to wine, others boast
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restaurants, guest houses and hotels. One even has a remarkable art gallery.
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It's boom time and all are gearing themselves up for wine tourism.
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I sample delectable violet-scented, ripe, soft, supple, fleshy, plummy,
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velvety smooth malbecs: some single varietals, some blended with dashes of
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cabernet, merlot or syrah. I find that I've fallen for Mendoza and its wines
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in a big way.
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If I see another steak, though, I'll scream.
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[jonathan.ray@telegraph.co.uk][3]
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**RELATED PRODUCT**
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[**Buy Malbec from _wine.telegraph.co.uk_**![][4]][5]
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[X][6] Share & bookmark
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[What are these?][7]
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* Share: [Share][6] [ ][8] [ ][9]
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[Tweet][10]
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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/wine/3344088/Malbec-a-French-wine-
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with-an-Argentine-twist.html
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Telegraph
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## [Wine][11]
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* ### [Food and Drink »][12]
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In food-and-drink
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[![Cool change: Burgundy vineyards in winter][13]][14]
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### [Telegraph Wine Shop][14]
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[![Burgandy cellars][15] ][16]
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### [2009 Vintage: Burgundy best in a barrel][16]
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[X][6] Share & bookmark
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Digg Fark LinkedIn Google Buzz StumbleUpon Y! Buzz
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[What are these?][7]
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Share:
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* [ ][6]
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* [ ][8]
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* [ ][9]
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* [Tweet][10]
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* Advertisement
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![][17]
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telegraphuk
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Please enable JavaScript to view the [comments powered by Disqus.][18] [blog
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