The producers of the "Twilight" fantasy series could learn a few things about black from Cahors.
Like many things in France, Cahors wines have had a long, and sometimes tumultuous, history. People were enjoying “the black wine of Cahors,” named for its characteristic inky color, since the Romans developed the Cahors wine industry, planting vines here in southwestern France even before they got to Bordeaux.
Cahors wines reached their heyday in the Middle Ages, when they were even on the table at the marriage of Eleanor of Aquitaine with Henry II of England in 1152. They were the table- and sacramental-wine of Pope John XXII, who was born in Cahors, and even the Russian Emperor Peter I of Russia drank Cahors wines. But export of the wine required transporting it on the barely navigable Lot River to Bordeaux. Those canny Bordelais winemakers, however, saw it as a formidable competitor to England’s other favorite red wine, claret, as Bordeaux is known there. They introduced taxes and levies that hindered its export, and, in turn, its reputation.
In the late-19th century, phylloxera nearly destroyed the wine business in Cahors. The vines recovered eventually, but then the deadly frosts in the mid-1950s hit. Things looked pretty bleak until 1971, when Cahors achieved AOC status. It has been gaining momentum ever since.
The dominant grape variety in AOC Cahors wines is Malbec, which must make up a minimum of 70% of the wine, with Merlot and Tannat making up the rest. Cahors wines are notoriously tannic when young, benefiting greatly from aging.
Though well perceived as a quality wine, Cahors, like many French wines, has been steadily losing ground in international markets. In 2006, the professional association of Cahors winemakers (Union Interprofessionnelle des vins de Cahors—UIVC) began a new marketing campaign: “Cahors is Malbec,” and “Cahors is black.” A third alliterative verse has now been added: “Cahors is back, Cahors is black, Cahors is Malbec!”
It’s a snappy and direct campaign, and, as regards the trumpeting of the Malbec grape variety, a little amazing. For centuries, the Malbec grape was known by other names– Côt, Côt Noir or Auxerrois–in the Cahors region. The campaign obviously aims to capitalize on the popularity of Argentine Malbec in the U.S. In these recessionary times, many American wine drinkers have been switching from high-priced California and Bordeaux Merlot to lush-and-fruity Malbec wines from Argentina. In the first six months of 2009, imports of Argentine wines rose in the U.S. by over 30%, while those from Italy, France and Australia dropped by almost 30%. Even the wealthy are finding that a $20 bottle of Argentine Malbec can substitute for a $190 bottle of Opus One from California.
The main strategist behind the Cahors marketing campaign is UIVC Marketing Director Jérémy Arnaud. After having studied law in Aix en Provence, he received a graduate degree in wine marketing from the Burgundy School of Business in Dijon. He then spent one year working in Argentina for the Argentine equivalent of France’s INAO, the government bureau that determines the certification of geographical indications (the AOC) for wines, cheeses, butters and other agricultural products. So he knows Argentina and its wines quite well.
Arnaud worked from 2002 to 2006 promoting Rosé wines from Provence. Sales of imported Rosé in the U.S. have been increasing by double digits over the past ten years as winemakers in Provence have increased the quality and complexity of their Rosé wines, and as U.S. food consumption patterns move to lighter Mediterranean-style and Asian cuisines that pair well with these lighter wines. Not that his efforts had a direct effect on the success of Rosé wines in the U.S., but his having worked on such a successful campaign certainly should allow him to better understand the dynamics of matching a wine with evolving consumer tastes.
Since his arrival in Cahors in October of 2006 things have been happening quickly. A conference in early 2007 titled “Black Paradox” looked at the color “black” and its effect on wine consumption. A French professor of sociology at the Sorbonne, several wine professionals, and a writer whose work includes having studied the meaning of colors, participated in the conference, and findings were presented suggesting that black wines elicit strong emotional responses, particularly in young wine consumers.
In April 2008, with Argentina as the guest of honor, the First International Malbec Days was held in Cahors. A three-year campaign, using the theme “Cahors—the original Malbec!” and focusing on Cahors as the birthplace of Malbec, got underway in 2009. There have been a series of wine tastings organized in several U.S. cities, with Cahors winemakers presenting their wines to American wine journalists, and an English-language blog (www.blackisphere.fr) and the www.cahorsmalbec.com website, which contain news and videos about Cahors wines, have been launched.
I’m not privy to the marketing studies that have obviously been done to position Cahors wines in the marketplace, but it’s pretty obvious who they’re targeting in the U.S.: web-savvy, young professionals in major American cities who are willing to seek out wines from outside of the usual wine regions. The whole aspect of “black,” particularly a “Cahors, Capital of Malbec” video that was released in 2009 to promote a new, raised-letter Cahors Malbec bottle and a special, Cahors wine Glass Ring glass (that’s even available in a phosphorescent, glow-in-the-dark Lounge version), is puzzling to me. A wine-blogging friend called it “cheesy,” but I would say that the video, which features an attractive couple drinking Cahors wine, and which has the ethereal music and dark, gothic look of a promotional trailer for the Twilight series, or any of the other fantasy romance books or films that are so popular with today’s young adults, is a direct result of the “Black Paradox” conference findings.
I hope that their target-audience profile includes “meat-eater,” as vegetarians would be a total waste of time; Cahors is famously protein friendly. It’s not a coincidence that it and other tannic, acidic wines are so common in confit-crunching, cassoulet-devouring southwestern France.
Consumption of the more-fruity, higher-alcohol, and generally plusher Argentine Malbec is perhaps peaking, with anecdotal evidence suggesting that some Argentine-Malbec-fatigue is occurring. Certainly, if you did a blind tasting with both of these Malbecs and a nice (even Argentinean) steak, the more-tannic and more-acidic French wine would undoubtedly come out on top.
The Cahors Malbec marketing campaign, which is financed by the winemakers, the French government and the European Union, appears to be working. Cahors wine exports to the U.S. increased, albeit from a small base, by 29% in 2009, while, in the same year, overall French wine exports plummeted by nearly 20%, to their lowest level in a decade.
When I spoke to UIVC Marketing Director Arnaud on the phone, he explained the difference between the two Malbec wines like this: “Cahors Malbec is the Malbec of Terroir, with its roots in the soil. While Argentina Malbec is the Malbec of the sun, with its roots in the sun.”
The unusual coarse texture of Cahors Malbec, with its leathery feel on your mouth, and those subtle hints of blackberries, especially when tucking into a good Confit de canard, is, to me, the essence of French winemaking. When the flavor of the grape is expressed, more through the spectrum of culture, history and winemaking than from its biological properties, one begins to understand that elusive concept of terroir.
The Third International Malbec Days in Cahors will be held from May 21-23. I hope to be there to hear more about the history of this grape and, since a number of Malbec producers from Argentina will be participating, to compare these two different styles of wine.
