Is Bordeaux similar to Malbec?

In France, wine are named by regions usually. Apart from Alsace, the grape variety will rarely appear on the wine label, at least at the place of wine’s name.

Moreover, we can’t literally compare Bordeaux with Malbec seeing as the former is a region whereas the latter is a grape variety

Additionally, Bordeaux wines are usually blends so they can not be compared to a grape variety.

However, Bordeaux wines are know to be fruity and have high tannins, so a comparison between a single varietal wine (from Malbec) and a Bordeaux wine can be made.

In order to compare a Malbec wine to a Bordeaux wine, let’s agree on the definition of both parties.

What is Malbec like?

Malbec is a grape variety with a thick skin and thus gives to birth to dark-colored wines. It has a high acidity and high tannins. The classic Malbec offers black fruit aromas and flavors (blackberry, black plum). With age, it can offer outstanding tertiary aromas such as dried fruit and meat.

Oak is usually used during fermentation and aging.

In France, Malbec is most well-known in the south-west.

What is a Bordeaux wine like?

Now this is a very large question but for this post’s sake I will generalize it. If you want to know more about Bordeaux and its specificities or at least have a more precise overview, I recommend you read my post about the Bordeaux region.

Red wine in Bordeaux is usually a blend of two main grape varieties : Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot.

Merlot has a medium acidity with medium tannins and offers different fruit characteristics according to its level of ripeness. It can deliver red fruit and herbaceous aromas and flavors to cooked black fruit.

Cabernet Sauvignon is a grape with thick skin which bring color and tannins to the wines. It has high acidity and herbaceous and black fruit aromas.

These two grapes are often blended because Merlot will help lower the tannins and acidity levels and make the wines more ready to drink at an early age. It will also add red fruit flavors to the blends.

Cabernet Sauvignon will balance a wine’s acidity and add tannins.

So Bordeaux wines are usually dark colored and full-bodied wines that can seem austere in its young age.

Another key difference : the wine regions

Bordeaux wines come from … Bordeaux obviously and Malbec mostly comes from the south west.

These two regions, although rather close, are different.

Bordeaux is located in a temperate oceanic climate, and enjoys the Gulf Stream effect, a warming ocean current that extends the vegetative cycle of the vine. However, the ocean brings its share of rain, and therefore significant humidity.

The Landes forest and the coastal dunes make it possible to avoid the worst by protecting the vineyards from storms. Thus, Bordeaux is subject to the vintage effect, and the wines produced be a blend of several grape varieties. Indeed, it would be too risky to count on only one…

In the east from Bordeaux, you will find Cahors. The climat resembles the climate from Bordeaux but with less maritime influence. Soils are either richer when in the valley or very poor when on the plateaux. Their wines, usually made from Malbec, blended with Merlot, used to be call “black wines”, due to their very dark color.

As you may have read in my other posts, France is particularly vigilant to the terroir effect and will plant grape varieties according to the climate and soil.

Malbec needs a warm climate to thrive, so naturally, its preferred location is further from the sea and more into these hot lands.

Is a Bordeaux wine like a Malbec?

So the answer to the question is not so obvious. If you are comparing the texture, then yes Bordeaux wine will be like Malbec wine, full-bodied with high acidity and high tannins. Both can age a long time and will offer meat aromas when aged several years in the bottle.

However, aromas will be different. With Malbec, you can expect a lot of black fruits whereas Bordeaux wine is more balanced and offers red fruits too.