Making Malbec wine in Paris!

The Montmartre vineyard in the heart of Paris is well-known, but the BK Wine Blog reports that a new vineyard has been established in the grounds of the Brettoneau Hospital in Paris’ 18th arrondisement (also within Montmarte on the north side of the city – see map). Designed in part as therapy for patients (in tending the vines and making the wine rather than just imbibing it) the intriguing question is why Malbec – a grape variety which needs a lot of sun for ripening and which can produce quite big, tannic wines and is mainly grown 400 miles further south in the Cahors AOC. I had expected something more like a Pinot Noir or Gamay which tolerate cooler climes and which are the predominant grapes at Clos Montmartre,

The selection of Malbec is down to Fabrice Durou, the winemaker from Chateau de Gaudou in Cahors, a well-respected domaine at Vire-sur-Lot. So here is a man who knows his grapes and has made a “micro-cuvee. It all shows a rather different approach to the marketing gimmick which Australian producer McGuigan put on in London recently when they created a temporary vineyard in the heart of the City of London – a fun idea, admittedly, but ephemeral! (see www.ukwinesonline.co.uk)

For more about the Cahors wines of Chateau de Gaudou see www.chateaudegaudou.com