Malbech

Also known as Malbec, Côt.

Genetic studies confirm the Italian "Malbech" shares its origin with the Malbec of southwestern France, known there as Côt — the same grape behind Argentina's flagship variety and the historic "black wine" of Cahors. Grown across several Italian regions (Sardegna, Abruzzo, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Toscana, Sicilia, Puglia, Umbria), it finds its best Italian expression in the Veneto and Friulian provinces of Treviso, Udine and Pordenone.

In Veneto and Friuli it adapted well to the gravelly, alluvial plains soils, giving soft, fruity wines that saw wide diffusion through the 20th century, especially as an everyday, ready-to-drink red. It is the principal grape (minimum 85%) of the Malbech varietal typology in Lison-Pramaggiore DOC, and appears as a named varietal-specification grape across several of Veneto's eastern IGTs. Wines are ruby red, warm on the palate, with a herbaceous edge.