Red grape
Malbec
Also known as Côt
A deeply coloured red grape now strongly associated with Argentina, often combining dark fruit, medium-to-high tannin and generous body.
Where it grows
In Argentina it is often grown in dry, sunny conditions where elevation can moderate temperature and increase day-night contrast.
What it usually feels like
Think of this as the grape’s default setting, not its destiny. Change the climate, the vintage or what happens in the winery and it can turn into a rather different beast.
Acidity
Medium
How fresh, tart or mouth-watering the wine tends to feel.
Tannin / grip
Medium to high
Drying grip from skins and seeds. Usually very low in conventionally made white wines.
Body
Medium to full
How light, rounded or weighty the wine feels in the mouth.
Aroma intensity
Moderate
How strongly the wine tends to smell before you even taste it.
What tends to turn up in the glass
No, nobody put any of that in it.
Wine people use fruit, herbs, flowers and spice as shorthand because saying “it tastes like itself” is not terribly helpful. These are the clues that crop up most often; place, ripeness and winemaking decide which ones shout and which merely wave from the back.
Then the winemaker gets involved
Same grape. Different decisions. Quite a different drink.
Once the grapes reach the winery, the choices start piling up. Steel can keep things brisk, skin contact adds grip, lees can broaden the texture and oak can change the whole mood. None is automatically better — they simply pull the wine in different directions.
Skin fermentation
Change the fermentation and you can change the fruit, texture, tannin and general mood of the wine surprisingly quickly.
Oak maturation
Oak can add texture, spice, toast and sometimes vanilla. New oak tends to announce itself; older barrels are usually rather better behaved.
Blending
The grape becomes part of the conversation rather than delivering the entire speech on its own.
Now put it next to something else.
Wine makes far more sense side by side. Try this grape against something similar and the differences suddenly stop being theory — more acidity here, more perfume there, perhaps a bit more weight or considerably less restraint.
Compare with
Cabernet Sauvignon
A late-ripening red grape known for firm tannin, dark-fruit character and a strong relationship with blending and oak maturation.
Open grape
Compare with
Merlot
A widely planted red grape often valued for generous fruit, softer tannin than Cabernet Sauvignon and flexibility in blends or varietal wines.
Open grape
Compare with
Syrah
One grape with a wide stylistic range, from peppery and savoury expressions to ripe, powerful and fruit-rich wines.
Open grape