Funny grape, Malbec. It was once popular in Bordeaux, but after the 1950s it fell from favour. The only part of France that still uses it extensively is Cahors. But Malbec thrives in Argentina: at one point the Argentines had 50,000 hectares of the stuff. Most of the resulting wine was putrid.

This is no surprise when you consider that Argentina’s largest immigrant group is made up of Italians. Anyone who has been to Italy will have noticed a curious paradox. The country makes some of the world’s greatest wine, and everyone agrees that over the last twenty years its winemaking standards have soared. Yet the average Italian consumer is still happy to drink filth: urinous whites and sour, fizzy reds, mostly from the rancid little cooperatives I have deplored elsewhere. Read the rest of this entry »