How Malbec saved Argentina
A grape almost lost twice — in its French homeland and again in Mendoza — before one family pulled it back and gave a country its identity in a glass.
Every great wine country has a founding story. France has Burgundy's monks; Italy has its dialects of dirt. Argentina has something rarer: a grape that was almost lost twice — in its French homeland and again in Mendoza — before a single family pulled it back from the edge and, in the process, gave the country its identity in a glass. It is one of the great underdog stories in wine. And it ends with an “overnight success” that took five generations.
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01The crisis
A grape with two thousand years of history Malbec did not begin in Argentina.
Leer el capítulo 1 →Nicolás Catena
What happened next is the part you can taste.
Leer el capítulo 2 →The pivot
The turn came in the early 1990s, and it was driven by one man and one trip.
Leer el capítulo 3 →The discovery
For most of the 20th century, though, Argentine wine was a domestic affair, and not a glorious one.
Leer el capítulo 4 →Today
The other half of the founding story is the immigrants.
Leer el capítulo 5 →Respuestas rápidas
Where did Malbec originally come from?
Malbec is a French grape with a long history in southwestern France. In Bordeaux of the 17th to early 19th centuries it was the dominant grape of the Médoc, more widely planted than Cabernet Sauvignon. It fell out of favor in France after phylloxera and a series of devastating frosts, including in 1956.
How did Malbec come to Argentina?
In 1853, French agronomist Michel Aimé Pouget brought the first French vine cuttings — including Malbec — to Mendoza at the invitation of Argentine reformer Domingo Faustino Sarmiento. April 17th is now celebrated worldwide as Malbec Day to mark that arrival.
Who started the Malbec Revolution?
Nicolás Catena Zapata is widely credited with launching Argentina's "Malbec Revolution" in the early 1990s. Inspired by Napa Valley, he replanted top Malbec selections at high altitude and produced fine, terroir-driven wines that put Argentine Malbec on the world stage.
Why was Malbec almost lost in Argentina?
Through the 1970s and 1980s, Argentine growers replaced Malbec with higher-yielding varieties that paid better in the bulk-wine market. The grape was being uprooted from the very country where it thrived, until the quality revolution of the 1990s reversed the trend.
When did Malbec become world famous?
International recognition came in the late 1990s and early 2000s, in what is often called the "Malbec Boom." Foreign investment, consulting winemakers and new export markets carried Argentine Malbec to wine lists worldwide.