Gary Vaynerchuck is a one-of-a-kind presenter, but make no mistake, behind that hilarious improvisatory style is solid content. This week, Gary V and his podcast Malbec vs Malbec Episode compares two bottles, one French and one from Argentina, both selling for $7.99. His conclusions are interesting. He says that a walk in customer who asked for a bottle of wine at that price level would be more likely to be sold on the Argentina because it's more fruit forward and that is what this kind of customer would expect. However, (to liberally paraphrase Gary, not an easy task) he found the Cahors more "authentic", with a little challenging funkiness that is perfect for the wine lover who is not looking for a jammy, new world taste.

In 1868, Professor Pouget introduced Malbec cuttings from Bordeaux to Argentina as well as Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. In the warm and dry climate of South America, Malbec thrived.

The pre-program of our International Malbec Days held in Cahors is now available. Our guest of honor will be the Malbec from Argentina.

The event will be held on the magnificent and emblematic bridge of Cahors, the Valentré bridge and in the "Espace Valentré" next to it.

To register to the event

To read the program in French

For a week, Argentina received the most prestigous representatives of the Malbec of Cahors. They visited some bodegas, some of them belonging to French winemakers, such as Philippe Rolet and Hervé Joyau.

Interesting exchanges on winemaking techniques took place between French and Argentinian winemakers. Almost everybody agreed on the interest for Malbec producers to share ideas on this unsual varietal.

The media, press and TV, were very interested by the event. A partnership agreement was signed between the city of Lujan de Cuyo and Cahors.

From Wine Business, October 2007 Wine-Business-International.com).

That is, in short, the new marketing strategy of the French appellation of Cahors.

"Cahors is Malbec" makes perfect sense, because Malbec has been at the heart of the region’s identity for the centuries. By law, 70% of any blend of Cahors must be Malbec. In reality, almost all Cahors contain 85-100% Malbec. Cahors intend to remain the birth place and capital of Malbec, and the reference in terms of quality, with Malbec from Cahors being stongly marked by the region’s soil and climate. Although only 4,000 of the 40,000 hectares of vineyard that were planted here in the 19th century are still being cultivated, Cahors still accounts for 20% of global Malbec production.

In April 2008, Cahors will organise the first international Malbec Symposium. At the time, Cahors and the village of Lujan de Cuyo in Argentina will sign a friendship pact.