Most people associate Malbec with Chile’s neighbour, Argentina, but little do they know that Chile has a possibly even longer history with the tasty varietal. There are some beautiful, gnarly old vines across the country and research by Pablo Lacoste actually suggests that the first Malbec vines arrived in Chile in 1840, 30 years before than in Argentina.
A bit about Malbec
Originally hailing from Cahors, France, this wine was known as the ‘black wine’ because of its incredible color (in the bottle and on your teeth!) It was once the preferred wine of Kings and Popes, but fell out of favor to Bordeaux blends and was partially wiped out by Phylloxera. Malbec however is now having a rebirth in the New World in countries like Chile, Argentina, the US, Australia and South Africa.
The character of Chilean Malbec
No matter who had it first, Chilean Malbec is a completely different beast to those of Argentina or from its birthplace in France. As a much slimmer country, Chile has a great influence from the coast and mountains – a cooling influence which gives slower maturation, higher acidity and fresher expression.