The Malbec grape variety has a long and fascinating French history, but its quick rise to global fame is decidedly Argentine. After arriving in South America in the mid-1800s, a natural affinity for the Andean terroir set the grape on a new and exciting path.
In a little over a century, Malbec completely transformed Argentina’s wine industry. While other signature grape varieties—Shiraz in Australia or Pinotage in South Africa, for example—haven’t managed the same level of success for various reasons, Malbec has become as inextricably linked to Argentine land as any indigenous variety.
“The interesting thing for me about Malbec’s [rise] is that it was a very authentic process,” says José Zuccardi, the CEO of Familia Zuccardi. “When you analyze how the process happened—when Malbec arrives, how the vineyards became [predominantly] Malbec, and how Malbec survived in the domestic market at the beginning and in the export market later on—it’s a process that comes from a real situation in which the variety [adapted to Argentina] very well.”
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Today, Malbec has an unflappable hold on Argentina’s wine industry; there’s no need to go looking for the next big thing. “Do you think that somebody would ask Aubert de Villaine what happens after Pinot Noir in Burgundy?” Laura Catena, the managing director of Catena Zapata, recalls asking a reporter. Instead, the question is: what’s next for Argentine Malbec? And in searching for the answer to that question, it helps to understand just how far—and how fast—Argentine Malbec’s star has risen.
Malbec’s Bumpy Beginnings in Argentina
Malbec first arrived in Argentina in 1853, and by the second half of the 20th century, it was widely planted throughout Mendoza, the country’s primary winegrowing region. But it was by no means a standout variety. At that time, Malbec largely contributed to low-quality blends, filled out with higher-yielding grapes like Bonarda.
Through the 1980s, several factors limited Malbec’s potential. First, Malbec, as with all grapes grown in Mendoza, had to contend with hailstorms. Given the severe damage that hail can wreak on a vineyard, vine training prioritized achieving a viable crop. “[Growers] were doing things to preserve the ability to pick grapes at all; there was no focus on quality,” explains Paul Hobbs, the founder of Viña Cobos, who first arrived in Mendoza in March of 1988.
Vines were trained very low to the ground. Canes were wrapped around the top wire to cocoon the fruit inside. Flood irrigation was—and in some cases still is—used to ensure plump grapes in Mendoza’s desert climate. Such practices allowed for a harvest in tough conditions, but rarely resulted in quality fruit.
Second, the wine industry couldn’t import modern equipment. “Part of the problem was a political issue, where they closed the country in terms of trade,” says Hobbs. “[Argentine] equipment was antiquated and in very poor condition. They did their best to make what they could, but it was pretty rustic.”
Perhaps the most important factor was the general appetite of the Argentine people. In 1970, per capita wine consumption in Argentina was around 130 liters, according to the World Health Organization. In short, Argentines were more concerned with quantity than quality.
This simple fact made Malbec a tough sell for growers; its yields were too low to make the type of wine the domestic market was demanding. “There was a period between 1970 to 1990 where a lot of Malbec was eradicated—[approximately 80 percent]—because there was no real market for [it],” says José Zuccardi.
Then, in the early 1990s, Malbec’s fortunes made an about-face. Newcomer Paul Hobbs, searching out quality in a sea of high-volume production, zeroed in on the potential of Malbec.
Malbec Finds Its Footing
Hobbs arrived in Mendoza with UC Davis classmate Jorge Catena, the younger brother of third-generation Catena Zapata leader Nicolás Catena. “The first vineyard I laid eyes on happened to be a Malbec vineyard,” says Hobbs.
Hobbs returned to Mendoza the following year, in 1989, to join forces with Nicolás Catena, who, at the time, was focused on Chardonnay. “I kept coming up against Malbec,” says Hobbs. “Everyone was like ‘don’t waste your time, it’s not something interesting.’ But then I saw an old vineyard near the Mendoza river … I thought, ‘we’ve got to give this a try.’”
The first step was to radically change how the vineyard was farmed. “[We needed to] farm it like an A-quality vineyard in a Grand Cru region,” says Hobbs. “So we made a number of critical changes, like raising the fruit wire … opening up the fruit zone, all the things that we do today.”
Hobbs also cut the level of irrigation by one-third. “That was important because one of the things that I saw was that the grapes were full of water,” he says. “When we reduced the water, the berry size decreased portionally. It was dramatic.”
Finally, Hobbs solved the all-important hail problem. Netting was installed above the vine rows to shield the grapes, which was a “game-changer.” After that, “People were willing to make modifications to the vineyard, like the true VSP system and opening up the fruit zone,” he says.
A False Start on the World Stage
These farming upgrades completely changed the outlook for Malbec wines. Almost overnight, Argentina was producing soft, fruity, easy-to-love red wines that stood out on the international market. “Once we saw the first success, we kept on going,” says Hobbs. “We began studying the winemaking techniques, but we really didn’t have any place to look to … We just made it up as we went.”
Argentine Malbec’s inherent qualities—dark, full, soft, and fruity—worked particularly well with the ’90s appetite for internationally styled red wines. “Malbec is just supple and smooth on the palate, and the way it was being made—I was using American oak—gave you vanillin, black cherries, and vanilla ice cream,” says Hobbs. “People were just like, ‘Wow, this is so delicious for $9 a bottle.’”
It didn’t take long for Argentine Malbec to see serious levels of success. “One thing that always impressed me was how quickly [Malbec] caught fire,” says Hobbs. “We started launching Malbec in ’94. Word got out pretty quickly and by ’96 or ’97 other people were looking at Malbec in Argentina. By the late ’90s and early 2000s, it was like the Gold Rush in California.”
In line with global demand, “Wine styles with concentration, extraction, and oak were prioritized,” says Sebastián Zuccardi, the viticulturist for Zuccardi Valle de Uco. “In a climate like ours, where it is possible to ripen and concentrate the grapes, a style of Malbec developed with a high alcohol content and a very dark color. Winemakers began to use new oak and small barrels to age the wines. Wines [began] to take on a similar form.”
During this time, Malbec came very close to becoming a victim of its own success. Because it was so profitable, producers were eager to meet demand, despite the fact that limited Malbec plantings existed at the time. “In other words, it was mainly Bonarda being shipped with the passport of Malbec,” says Hobbs. “That did serious damage to the category [in the 2000s]. But an economic downturn in Argentina dried up those cheap wines; they became too expensive to produce. Then, we had to rebuild.”
New—and Much Higher—Horizons for Malbec
At the turn of the 21st century, quality-focused wine producers began to explore Argentine terroir in earnest, following the early pioneers of the ’90s. “We started to explore lower regions, then we started to go up into the mountains, mostly with Malbec,” says Juan Pablo Murgia, the winemaker for Argento and Otronia. As it turned out, Malbec adapted well to just about every location, even those “too cold” for viticulture.
According to Hobbs, the more southerly Uco Valley, which lies at the foot of the Andes Mountains at the highest elevations in Mendoza, “was considered too cold by most of the top viticulturists.” But after Hobbs and Nicolás Catena began to develop the area, it attracted more and more interest. The thinking quickly flipped from “that’s too cold,” to “let’s go to even higher elevations.”
The conditions throughout the Uco Valley—which can reach up to 6,562 feet above sea level—make for a very unique winegrowing area. “The [high] altitude means less temperature and a lot of sunlight,” says José Zuccardi. And the alluvial fans that formed the soils at the base of the Andes created unique and highly variable vineyard sites.
“There is something magical about this mountain climate and Malbec,” says Laura Catena, who joined the family business in 1995. “Malbec really soaks up terroir. It’s completely different wherever you grow it, but it’s always delicious. Maybe it’s something about the mountains, maybe about the sunlight. Maybe it’s about the [pre-phylloxera vine] selection that came from France.”
Catena spearheaded an effort to make the first massal and clonal selections of pre-phylloxera Malbec in Argentina, particularly as they started to explore Malbec plantings at higher elevations. “We were planting this genetically diverse, low-yielding, super high-quality Malbec,” she says.
The Many Faces of Malbec
Argentine Malbec has come a long way since the vanilla-laced wines of the ’90s caught fire. “Before, people talked about Malbec as one thing,” says José Zuccardi. “Not anymore. To focus on the vineyard, on terroir-driven wines, is giving Malbec many other faces.”
“I started [making wine in Mendoza] 20 years ago, and we were talking about structure, concentration, and oak,” says Murgia. “Now, we are looking for wines that can show places.” In 2010, Argento began working on their terroir series of wines, which showcases single-vineyard, even single-block, wines.
Murgia describes his single-vineyard Agrelo Malbec from Luján de Cuyo as black-fruited, structured, and spicy, but 60 miles south in the Uco Valley, Murgia’s single-vineyard Altamira Malbec—which is from the same altitude, vine age, vineyard design, and winemaker—has a completely different profile, which Murgia describes as red-fruited, flowery, and mineral.
“There’s a Malbec that goes in the Cabernet [Sauvignon] direction, that’s a little more black fruit, a little heartier, maybe a little herbal,” says Catena. “Then you’ve got the Pinot Noir-leaning, super cool-climate Malbec, or maybe you could say Northern Rhône-style, where it’s a lot more spicy, with red fruits and florals.
Recent research examined the terroir variations among Argentine Malbecs and confirmed meaningful differences. Researchers studied 23 single-parcel Malbec wines from 12 geographical indications (GIs) in six departments of Mendoza, and found that “the contents of anthocyanins and other compounds … were higher in the more elevated GIs of the Uco Valley, particularly Gualtallary.” Lower concentrations were observed in eastern Mendoza, and intermediate concentrations were found in Luján de Cuyo and Maipú.
Today, Argentina is teeming with hyper-focused Malbecs that zero in on just about every terroir variation, and, partly due to the success of wines like Zuccardi’s Concreto, many wineries are experimenting with concrete and other non-oak aging vessels in an effort to better showcase terroir. “The process of going from larger regions to single parcels was a very accelerated process,” says Murgia. “It was maybe 20 years. Now, we’re producing some of the best wines in the world through Malbec, through these places.”
Doubling Down on Malbec
With a robust understanding of just how well Malbec communicates the terroirs of Argentina, local winemakers have come to view Malbec not just as a signature grape variety, but as the vehicle through which we can explore the diversity of the country. Like Pinot Noir in Burgundy or Nebbiolo in Piedmont, Malbec is the common lens, reflecting the subtle differences of each site, from Salta to Patagonia.
With this shift in mindset, some winemakers are hoping to reposition their wines in the market. Sebastián Zuccardi, for example, was adamant about not putting ‘Malbec’ on the front label of a wine because its most important attribute was the terroir. “The commercial people were very upset with us,” says José Zuccardi. “But the future is that Argentina will be recognized for some of these areas, and the big wines of the world talk about the region more than the variety.”
Most consumers, however, are not up to speed with Malbec’s rapid evolution. “When you start telling [consumers] about Luján de Cuyo, Uco Valley, and then start with the GIs, people are like, ‘Ok, I don’t know where I am,’” says Patricia Ortiz, the owner and president of Fincas Patagónicas. “Depending on who you are talking to, you’re either confusing them or helping them because they want to know more.”
To reach a larger audience, many producers are further diversifying their Malbec offerings, often in line with major consumer trends. Ortiz is producing a non-alcoholic Malbec Rosé; winemaker Germán Di Cesare of Bodega Trivento is producing a lower-alcohol White Malbec; and Zuccardi is dedicating a new winery to its new line of natural wines, which, of course, includes Malbec.
While Malbec’s future may be secure with winemakers, there are still unpredictable variables. “I think the future of Malbec is super exciting, but I’m also concerned about it,” says Catena, pointing to the region’s lack of water. Other factors that could contribute to a bumpy future for Malbec include the volatile economic situation in Argentina and the overall downward trend of wine consumption globally. And while Malbec still offers great value, prices have risen, especially for the site-specific wines that can be a harder sell when consumers are unfamiliar with the value of those sites.
Nevertheless, local winemakers are bullish on Malbec; every producer, whether from the old guard or the new, still seems to agree that “after Malbec comes more Malbec,” as Sebastián Zuccardi puts it. “The future lies in … being able to show different terroirs. I am sure Malbec is the best vehicle to express our terroirs.”
Dispatch
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Caitlin A. Miller is a New York-based wine writer and the current associate editor for SevenFifty Daily. Her work has appeared in Food & Wine, Vinous, and Christie’s International Real Estate Magazine. She holds the WSET Diploma in Wines and was the recipient of the 2020 Vinous Young Wine Writer Fellowship.
