Chateau les Croisille Silice 2016

The Malbec grape’s home is southwestern France. For centuries, Malbec was one of the main grape varieties grown in Bordeaux, supplying velvety texture and savory tones to the wines it was blended into. In the late 1800s, the phylloxera louse ate vine roots across Europe and decimated the world’s most famous vineyards. Grapes like Malbec were left out of many plantings in Bordeaux, but thrived further south in the region of Cahors, and abroad in Argentina, where vines had been safely sent before the phylloxera epidemic raged.

While much of the Argentine and French Malbecs out there are made by larger estates seeking to produce palatable wine for budget-conscious drinkers, there are notable exceptions: small, family-run estates pushing for quality wine. 

Château les Croisille was started by Bernard and Cécile Croisille in the 1970s, and now run jointly by them and their children Germain and Simon. They’ve been farming organically for decades and seeking to produce pure, energetic Malbec from their estate vineyards.