Grape variety and grafted vine plant Malbech: all the secrets

Malbech

Vine variety originally from France, where it is known as Cot. In Italy, until recent years it was sometimes mistaken with a particular biotype of Merlot with red rachis. It is the most widespread variety in Argentina.

CULTIVATED AREA IN ITALY

YEAR	1970	1982	1990	2000	2010
HECTARES	491	428	272	267	66

CULTIVATED AREA IN FRANCE

YEAR	1969	1979	1988	2000	2008	2018
HECTARES	9.765	4.801	5.279	6.166	6.676	7.625

Bud-burst period: everage-early.
Ripening period: everage (like Merlot).
Yield: good but inconstant depending on the climate.

Ampelographic characters:

the variety shows high variability in vigour, yield and cluster shape/ size. The bud has an open velvety whitish-green apex and large, orbicular, whole or three-lobed leaves with blistered upper side, partly red-veined, and a downy underside. The petiolar sinus is open and U- or V-shaped. The medium-large to medium-small pyramidal winged cluster tends to be compact. The berry is medium-large and thick, with thick skin and juicy flesh.

Cultural aptitude:

vine of medium vigour, with a semi-upright growth habit. The most suitable soils are clayey-calcareous and dry, but it gives excellent results in looser, sandy-loamy or skeleton-rich soils too.

Training system and pruning:

it generally prefers expanded training systems with long but not rich pruning.

Susceptibility to diseases and adverse conditions:

susceptible to downy mildew and averagely susceptible to powdery mildew. Susceptible to millerandage and coulure. It shows incompatibility in French-clone/Kober 5BB combinations.

Enological potential:

it gives wines that are rich in colour, good-to-very-good structure, fruity, spicy, sometimes poor in acidity. In loose soils it gives birth to scented wines with round, sweet tannins.