The Roman Empire conquerors brought grape vines to the Quercy region some 2,000 years ago. Within no time, the wines of the region were recognized for their quality, to the detriment of the Italian wines. In 92 AD, the Emperor ordered all the vines in Cahors to be pulled out. With no avail...

Would you like to know more about the history of Cahors? Follow our story every day on this blog...

In her blog, "Sojourns in France", the British blogger Linda, bibliophile and francophile, discovered the beautiful country side of the Lot as well as the story of the black wine.

Malbec grows almost everywhere: you can find it in France, Argentina, Chile, Brazil, Italy, Portugal, Spain, USA and Australia as well. Of course, the main two producing countries are France, in Cahors and Argentina.

The grape is thin-skinned with large berries: it needs a lot of sunlight and heat to mature fully. It likes well-irrigated and well-drained soils. Malbec is sensitive to cool and wet conditions as well as frost.

The leaves of the grape have three distinct lobes, the central lobe being the longest. Malbec berries are large, dark and round in large and loose bunches.

In his blog, Black Napkin, Mark, a college student near New York, encourages wine drinkers to discover less known grapes, such as Malbec, the "Wonder".

Read more about it.

Do you know Peter May? Do you know The Enzo Files? Shame on you! Peter May is the American author of the seven books of The Enzo files. Enzo MacLeod, his character, is half-Italian and half-Scottish and lives near our beautiful city of Cahors.

Unfortunately it seems that wine critics, enophiles and various wine amateurs are getting in trouble in the area. Funny, witted, Peter May's books are a must when you love Cahors wines.

Peter May was signing his books when he tasted a great Cahors wine, Mercues. To learn more about Peter, Enzo, crimes and wines, read his blog, Peter May live and visit the Enzo website.

Journalist Robin Garr, in his monthly Wine Focus in his online forum, the WineLovers Discussion Group, is taking another look at Malbec as a worldwide grape. As availability permits, the group will taste and compare Malbecs from Argentina, from Bordeaux, Cahors and the Loire Valley in France, and from New Zealand, Australia, California and anywhere else in the world that's giving Malbec a try.

You're invited to join the fun by visiting the Wine Focus forum section,
WLDG Wine Focus
and posting your own comments, questions and tasting reports.