Vinnez – September 2011

Bottling Now

The wait is over. As you read this my wine is being racked from its barrels into bottles for corking, labeling, and packaging. The wine is expected in the U.S. by early December, just in time for the holiday season.

The wine required a few extra months of barrel aging than expected due to its high quality. This is great news as it is one indication of what wonderful surprises might be in the bottle. My Vines of Mendoza team reports that the wine has matured gracefully since my blending session in January. The wines are concentrated, expressive, and show great complexity. Am I excited? Absolutely!!

More than five years ago I first visited the Valle de Uco, looking over a stretch of land covered with desert weeds and glacial rocks. Today, rows of healthy grape vines fill my five acres preparing themselves for another growing season. Seeing the transformation of the land from barren desert to lush green vineyards brings a great sense of accomplishment to me and everyone involved with this project. Thanks to all of you who have supported Chaiken Vineyards these past few years.

I am committed to producing the finest wines possible from the land, allowing the terroir – geography, soil, and micro climate – to express itself. Wine is made in the vineyard and nurtured in the winery. When you taste your first bottle of my wine in December, you will be one of the first to experience Nature’s expression of place – Chaiken Vineyards in the Valle de Uco. I am hopeful you will be pleased.

Sincerely,

Barry P. Chaiken, Proprietor
Chaiken Vineyards

info@chaikenvineyards.com
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Featured Photo Courtesy of Don Guerwitz Photography – Monk Dancers. Tiji Festival, Tibetan Kingdom of Mustang, Nepal.

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Malbec

Malbec (pronounced: [mal.bɛk]) is a purple grape variety used in making red wine. The grapes tend to have an inky dark color and robust tannins, and are long known as one of the six grapes allowed in the blend of red Bordeaux wine. The French plantations of Malbec are now found primarily in Cahors in the South West France region. It is increasingly celebrated as an Argentine varietal wine and is being grown around the world.

Called Auxerrois or Côt Noir in Cahors, called Malbec in Bordeaux, and Pressac in other places, the grape became less popular in Bordeaux after 1956 when frost killed off 75% of the crop. Despite Cahors being hit by the same frost, which devastated the vineyards, Malbec was replanted and continued to be popular in that area where it was mixed with Merlot and Tannat to make dark, full-bodied wines, and more recently has been made into 100% Malbec varietal wines.

A popular but unconfirmed theory claims that Malbec is named after a Hungarian peasant who first spread the grape variety throughout France. However the French ampelographer and viticulturalist Pierre Galet notes that most evidence suggest that Côt was the variety’s original name and that it probably originated in northern Burgundy. Despite a similar name, the grape Malbec argenté is not Malbec, but rather a variety of the southwestern French grape Abouriou. Due to the similarities in synonyms, Malbec has also been confused with Auxerrois blanc, which is an entirely different variety.

The Malbec grape is a thin-skinned grape and needs more sun and heat than either Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot to mature. It ripens mid-season and can bring very deep color, ample tannin, and a particular plum-like flavor component to add complexity to claret blends. Sometimes, especially in its traditional growing regions, it is not trellised and cultivated as bush vines (the goblet system). Here it is sometimes kept to a relatively low yield of about 6 tons per hectare. The wines are rich, dark and juicy.

As a varietal, Malbec creates a rather inky red (or violet), intense wine, so it is also commonly used in blends, such as with Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon to create the red French Bordeaux claret blend. The grape is blended with Cabernet Franc and Gamay in some regions such as the Loire Valley. Other wine regions use the grape to produce Bordeaux-style blends. The varietal is sensitive to frost and has a proclivity to shatter or coulure.

Wine

Wine expert Jancis Robinson describes the French style of Malbec common in the Libournais (Bordeaux region) as a “rustic” version of Merlot, softer in tannins and lower in acidity with blackberry fruit in its youth. The Malbec of the Cahors region is much more tannic with more phenolic compounds that contribute to its dark color. Oz Clarke describes Cahors’ Malbec as dark purple in color with aromas of damsons, tobacco, garlic, and raisin. In Argentina, Malbec becomes softer with a plusher texture and riper tannins. The wines tend to have juicy fruit notes with violet aromas. In very warm regions of Argentina, Chile & Australia, the acidity of the wine may be too low which can cause a wine to taste flabby and weak. Malbec grown in Washington state tends to be characterized by dark fruit notes and herbal aromas.

Synonyms

The French ampelographer Pierre Galet has documented over a thousand different synonyms for Malbec, stemming in part from its in peak period when it growing in 30 different departments of France. While Malbec is the name most commonly known to wine drinkers, Galet suggest that Côt was most likely the grape variety’s original name and the frequent appearance of Auxerrois as a synonym suggests the northern reaches of Burgundy as being the possible home of the varietal. In Bordeaux, where the variety first gained attention, it was known under the synonym Pressac.

Other common synonyms for Malbec include Agreste, Auxerrois, Auxerrois De Laquenexy, Auxerrois Des Moines De Picpus, Auxerrois Du Mans, Balouzat, Beran, Blanc De Kienzheim, Cahors, Calarin, Cauli, Costa Rosa, Cot A Queue Verte, Cotes Rouges, Doux Noir, Estrangey, Gourdaux, Grelot De Tours, Grifforin, Guillan, Hourcat, Jacobain, Luckens, Magret, Malbek, Medoc Noir, Mouranne, Navarien, Negre De Prechac, Negrera, Noir De Chartres, Noir De Pressac, Noir Doux, Nyar De Presak, Parde, Périgord, Pied De Perdrix, Pied Noir, Pied Rouge, Pied Rouget, Piperdy, Plant D’Arles, Plant De Meraou, Plant Du Roi, Prechat, Pressac, Prunieral, Quercy, Queue Rouge, Quille De Coy, Romieu, Teinturin, Terranis, Vesparo, Côt, Plant du Lot.

Source: Wikipedia