The Discoveries

An invitation to (re)discover the region’s rarer grape varieties that are less known on an international scale or to which Catherine Delaunay has given her personal flair, resulting in wines whose style does not reflect their usual typicity.

IGP Pays d'Oc

Malbec

The principal grape variety of the Cahors appellation, Malbec is also grown in the Bordeaux region. It is also grown in Argentina to produce wines that hugely popular around the world. This early-ripening grape yields a wine that is extremely fruity and fragrant with deep colour and solid tannins that make it well suited to laying down.

In order to express its full potential, this rather capricious grape variety needs to be grown in poor soil and harvested at optimal maturity.

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Grape variety

100% Malbec

Terroir(s)

See the interactive terroirs map

Malbec is scarce in the Languedoc. We have nevertheless found very diverse terroirs whose 30-year-old vines produce low yields of high quality grapes.

These plots are located:
• on the slopes of the Orb Valley, in the Hérault department, where the soil is very warm and strewn with rounded stones. These grapes lend depth and colour to the wine.
• in the western Aude department where the soil is cool and deep. The grapes, with their aromas and flavours of tangy red berries, lend finesse and freshness to the wine.
• on the dried-up marsh of Marseillette whose slightly salty calcareous clay soil strewn with rounded stones, combined with the coolness due to numerous canals and the poplar trees that line them, allow the grapes to reach an exceptional level of phenolic ripeness, resulting in wines with lovely length.

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Vinification

The grapes are harvested when they are at their peak of ripeness. They are then vinified in concrete tanks under monitored temperatures. Traditional maceration lasts 2 to 3 weeks then, after the grapes are pressed, the wine is aged on oak for added complexity.

Tasting

Endowed with ruby colour enhanced with red highlights, Les Jamelles Malbec is a powerful wine, with a spicy nose reminiscent of liquorice and both red and black fruit. It is supple on the palate though well structured, boasting big fruit along with persistent spicy notes and fine tannins that give elegant length.

Food & Wine

Served at 16°C, this wine is ideal with Mediterranean cuisine (ratatouille), couscous, tajine, grilled red meats, spicy dishes, or a simple plate of assorted cold cuts and cheeses, and even with a chocolate dessert! Catherine Delaunay recommends serving this emblematic Argentinian varietal with an Angus or Argentinian beef steak served with pepper sauce.