"Cahors Malbec: Meat, your match" or "Cahors is Cahors"?
A few interesting discussions about Argentine and Cahors Malbec arose in the last few days on blogs and forums. Dr Vino wrote a long article on the “campaign that ties their [Cahors] little-known region to the well-known grape, Malbec” and asked: “Is it a good move?” To answer his own question, he asked a few friends to blindly taste one Argentine Malbec and one Cahors Malbec with some grilled meat - a rather classic pairing. His friends identified correctly the two wines and the debate that followed gave a slight advantage to the Cahors wine, a Clos La Coutale.
Does it give a recognizable identity to the Cahors Malbec in comparison with its Argentine brother? Not really. Dr Vino suggests that Cahors adopts a new tagline: “Cahors Malbec: Meat, your match“. This is a very good line that should complement a new tagline: “Cahors is Malbec. But Cahors is Cahors“. Cahors wines have a very distinctive identity - far away from its Argentine counterparts. When Argentine Malbecs have been criticized lately for becoming “boring” (understand without specific character), Cahors Malbec never let go of its soul and its spirit: the wine is always surprising, complex and pleasant.
Still in the spirit of the “battle”, two wine bloggers, Lisa and Gary, discovered Cahors Malbec during the Boston tasting early september. Since then, they became fans of Cahors Malbec and organized a comparative tasting between the French 2005 Chateau De Cenac Eulalie and the Argentinian 2005 Kaiken Malbec Ultra over their hamburger dinner. The “Battle of the Malbecs“, as they titled their post, gave the advantage to Eulalie for its refined taste “with some earthiness, chocolate cherries, and a long, silky finish”. To them, Argentine Malbec is not the “Malbec king” anymore. Hat off to charming Eulalie!
An other discussion on Argentine and Cahors Malbec started on LinkedIn between members of the Wine 2.0 group. It was initiated by Norberto Paez, asistente de enólogo en Bodega de investigacion, Cátedra de Enología, Facultad de Cs. As, UNCuyo who asked the group: “What do you know about the Malbeck wine? For you, is the Argentinian Malbeck the best in the world?” I’m not sure anybody answered Dr. Paez’ question but very interesting ideas springed out of the exchange: some Americans expressed their pleasure at drinking Argentinian Malbecs but mentioned their interest in French Malbec, mostly Cahors. They were sorry it was so difficult to find Cahors Malbecs in the US. Someone else recommended Washington State and California Malbecs.
The interest of the discussion came from its international component: Europeans and Americans were able to exchange their ideas. It showed how the Malbec grape is rich. It has many expressions, depending on its terroir and origins: more fruit forward and lush in Argentina, more complex in Cahors and in between, the newly rising West Coast Malbec in the US. Aren’t we lucky to have such a diversity in one single grape, our beloved Malbec?
