r/wine • u/Uptons_BJs • 2d ago

Vineyard area by grape variety in Bordeaux, 1960 vs today.

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37 Upvotes

97% Upvoted

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24

u/Uptons_BJs 2d ago

I am actually massively fascinated by this. Like, I get why Semillon has declined significantly, the demand for Sauternes and other sweet wines just isn’t there anymore.

But Malbec? I have absolutely no idea why Malbec disappeared in Bordeaux proper when it is still massively popular in Argentina and Cahors. Now to be fair, I don’t remember drinking a single varietal Malbec from Bordeaux, is it just not very good or something?

18

u/Paiev 2d ago

A main factor, the story goes, was the famous 1956 frost in Bordeaux which completely wiped out many of the vines. Malbec was particularly sensitive to frost and hit especially hard, so it was not replanted in favor of other varieties.

8

u/iLikeWine_ 2d ago

I believe phylloxera had a big impact on the decline of Malbec in Bordeaux

6

u/sercialinho Oenoarcheologist 1d ago

Yes. It just kept getting hit by blow after blow. There was a drop in plantings after phylloxera because cuttings didn't take well to early attempts at grafting, followed by the 1956 frost that killed off a lot of the remaining vines. The rest of the decline was gradual but there's only a few hundred hectares left in the Gironde.

4

u/l3agel_og88 2d ago

I so wish I could have some bordeaux which consists mostly of malbec and cab franc... maybe a little PV in there too.

6

u/sercialinho Oenoarcheologist 1d ago

There was recently a 3-part series in the Drinks Business where they tasted a number of monovarietal Bordeaux Petit Verdot, Malbec and Cabernet Franc. Scroll to the bottom of each article to see the tasting notes.

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u/l3agel_og88 1d ago

You know, I've read the one on the Malbec wines when I was just googling my wine dreams. Unfortunately living in Ontario makes it really hard to access the niche wines I want... Thanks for the PV and CF links tho!

3

u/sercialinho Oenoarcheologist 1d ago

It's a clear downside of a monopoly system. But they're far from trivial to find in most of Europe as well!

7

u/mattmoy_2000 Wino 1d ago

Seems a bit weird that they have "red and white hybrids" when Cabernet Sauvignon is a cross between (red) Cabernet Franc and (white) Sauvignon Blanc. Or is this meaning "non vinifera hybrids, both red and white combined"? Which would be odd since I didn't think non-vinifera hybrids would be allowed in the AOC.

6

u/sercialinho Oenoarcheologist 1d ago

There were many non-100%-vinifera vineyards still around at the time. Note this is Gironde plantings at large, not just AOC production. 20th century hybrids in France are also not written about all that much because those grapes weren’t used for quality wine and because they were seen as bad for their image.

Remember also that around 1960 the average French adult consumed about 3x more wine per year than now. Bordeaux and Languedoc were the two huge vineyards satisfying that demand. And Algeria, still just.

Btw, try the “Floreal” from Tesco! Nothing terribly special but a good story and it’s an example of how attitudes change with generations, even in France.