The Georges Vigouroux Pigmentum Malbec 2011 is sourced from 3 estate vineyards in the Cahors AOC of southwest France. The name Pigmentum is meant to symbolize 3 things, it is the Latin root (maybe the pig latin root) for the word “pigment,” 1)it refers to the deep dark color of Cahors Malbec (it is known as the Black wine of Cahors) and 2) Malbec has been grown in Cahors for 2000 years, back to the time of Roman occupation and 3) Pigmentum was a spiced wine from the Middle Ages. Today, when most people think of Malbec, they think of Argentina. The Malbec grapes grown in Argentina are not exactly the same as French Malbec, the grapes are smaller have slightly different characteristics. This Malbec was aged in French, American and Slovenian oak barrels for 18 to 24 months. You should be able to find the Pigmentum for $8 to $12 and the alcohol content is 13.5%. The 2010 vintage was #45 on Wine Spectator’s Top 100 wines of 2012.
The color deep dark black cherry red, you can barely see thru it. The nose is ripe blackberry, brownies in the oven, licorice and a touch of herbs and spice. This is a fruit forward, but lean, balanced Malbec. It tastes of ripe, juicy black and blue berry, dark chocolate, cold coffee and plum. The mid palate adds raspberry, cinnamon spice and a shot of herbs. The tannins are firm, but do not bite and the acidity is well balanced. The finish is full and long.
The 2011 Pigmentum Malbec has the fresh rich flavor of an Argentinean Malbec, along with the lean, tight structure of French wines. It is reasonably complex for an inexpensive Red wine, it has that hard edge that Old School French wines can have, but the more modern fruit forward flavors bring a best of both worlds balance to the Pigmentum Malbec. As for pairings, this is a red meat kind of Red, the wine isn’t pretentious, so anything from burgers to prime rib will do nicely.
