Malbec: It's back in black for Cahors vintners

CAHORS, France (Reuters Life!) - The vintners of Cahors hope to get their "Black Wine" officially recognized as a separate category and regain some of its former glory.

They say their Malbec grape-based wine -- a popular local tipple whose history stretches back beyond the 14th century -- just doesn't fit into the white, red or rose description.

"We're undecided yet whether we ask for a new legal category for Black Wine with the European Union, or use it as an additional optional mention on the label," said Jeremy Arnaud, the marketing director for the UIVC Cahors wine association.

"We did try it out on the menus of several restaurants in this region and the response was very positive," he added.

Cahors, a town in southwestern France on the Lot River, is a well-known tourist destination and was a precious trading post during the Hundred Years' war from 1337 to 1453 which pit the Plantagenets of England against the Valois of central France.

Back then, Cahors wine was appreciated locally and as far away as England, and was known as the Black Wine because of the dark color given off by the Malbec grape.

The phylloxeria disaster in the 19th century hit many vineyards in the south of France and almost completely wiped out the Malbec vines. A severe frost in 1956 killed many more.

Later, the region faced competition from New World wines and European pressure to reduce production.

CHARACTER

The wine's sturdiness and roughness - what Cahors growers call "character" - has not found the same kind of appreciation among modern wine lovers as the more gentle clarets from Bordeaux or reds from Burgundy.

Rather, like the wines from nearby Gaillac, or Madiran from further south, they are often only drunk locally or used elsewhere to accompany dishes from the region such as breast of duck or garlic and bean soups.

But Malbec is on a comeback -- led by those same New World producers in Argentina, Chile and the United States -- and its ancient French home wants to join in the party.

Only about a fifth of all Malbec production is in France nowadays and just 10 percent around Cahors. Also known as Cot, Auxerrois or Pressac, it is one of the six grapes allowed in Bordeaux blends.

In Cahors wine, Malbec makes up at least 70 percent of the blend, the rest being Merlot and Tannat.

The Cahors wine association is working hard to promote the specifics of Malbec and even argues that the grape has health benefits.

CAHORS IS BLACK

With the Cahors is back, Cahors is black! slogan and the organization of the international Malbec days in April this year (www.french-malbec.com), Cahors vignerons are trying to get their wines off the cheap racks in the local supermarkets and in front of the more discerning drinker at home and abroad.

"In Cahors everybody was just doing their own thing and the taste and price was all over the place," Arnaud said.

There are 430 independent Cahors producers.

"But instead of trying to imitate other wines, we decided to focus on the characteristics of Cahors - the drinker either likes it or not, in any case our production is too limited to try and please everybody," he added.

Cahors has a production capacity of some 200 hectoliters, but sold 170,000 hectoliters in the 2006/07 campaign, 80 percent of it in France. The volume was up 14 percent on the previous year and prices rose by 15 percent on the marketing drive - and compares to a total French wine production of 50 million.

(Editing by Paul Casciato)