Not all Argentinian red wine is malbec | Hannah Crosbie on drinks

"You could make the argument that my journey into the wine industry began with Argentinian malbec. Even before I was pouring wines in restaurants, taking orders and learning the table numbers, it was the first wine with which I became truly familiar. It was the black bottle with the white label that lined our supermarket shelves, and what people on the telly with expensive haircuts and thick resin bangles poured into large glasses."

"It has been a hero grape for Argentina since it was introduced to the country in 1868 by a French agronomist named Michel Pouget. Although vines have been cultivated in Argentina since the Spanish colonisation in the 1600s, originally to produce wine for mass, it was in 1853 that the president tasked Pouget with invigorating his nation's winemaking. Pouget started a vine nursery in Mendoza, named Quinta Agronomica de Mendoza,where he cultivated the country's first French grapes, including cabernet sauvignon, cabernet franc."

"However, after a period of extreme economic instability in the 1980s, the Argentinian wine industry collapsed, with grape and wine prices dropping by 80% and domestic consumption plummeting. The story continues in a familiar way: the emphasis on quantity over quality contributed to Argentina developing a negative reputation as a bulk wine-producing country, a reputation it has shaken off only relatively recently."

Argentinian malbec became widely familiar in supermarkets and restaurants and later drove the nation's wine resurgence. Malbec was introduced in 1868 by French agronomist Michel Pouget after vine cultivation since Spanish colonisation in the 1600s. In 1853 Pouget established Quinta Agronomica de Mendoza and cultivated cabernet sauvignon, cabernet franc and malbec. Spanish and Italian immigrants brought varieties that adapted well. The Transandine railway enabled exports to Buenos Aires and increased immigration. Economic instability in the 1980s collapsed the industry, cutting prices by 80% and domestic consumption. An emphasis on quantity over quality created a bulk-wine reputation that Argentina has only recently shed.

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