While Malbec is the grape that put Argentine wine on the world map, many wine lovers have forgotten that this bold variety is a French immigrant. Frenchman Michel Pouget brought the grape to Argentina in 1853 at the bequest of the country’s president, and the variety has made a new home for itself throughout the country and especially in Mendoza’s dry, high-altitude vineyards. Although it is often overshadowed back home by the red wines of Burgundy and Bordeaux (where frost killed off most of the Malbec planted there in 1956), the winemakers of Cahors in the country’s southwest have continued to make excellent but often overlooked versions to this day. Few experts have experience in both countries, but there are two well-known enologists who have their feet firmly planted in both Mendoza and Cahors. In addition to his highly regarded Cobos Malbec from Mendoza, Paul Hobbs also vinifies exemplary French Malbec under his Crocus label, a joint project with French..
