Argentina celebrates Malbec World Day

By Erin Smith

Published: 17 April, 2014

Today marks the fourth annual Malbec World Day, which celebrates the grape that has helped Argentinian wines become the third most popular wine in the UK.

Argentinian wines have increased 20% in the UK off-trade, with a large part of the success being attributed to 'brand' Malbec.

"Malbec acts like a brand, and is the first thing people know about Argentinian wine," said Andrew Maidment, Wines of Argentina's Europe and Asia director, in an interview with harpers.co.uk last week. He said that 40% of Argentina's wine exports to the UK were Malbec.

Wines of Argentina has hosted very successful consumers events, like Cambalache, that have helped raise the profile of Argentinian and Malbec wines. Cambalache: One night in Argentina, is a consumer event that is meant to replicate the edginess of the streets of Argentina, complete with graffiti artists, music, food and wines. This year's event, which is set for April 30 and May1, sold 600 tickets in three hours.

Some of that growth has also been driven by major retailers, including Tesco. The supermarket says that volume sales of single varietal Malbec have soared by over 200% in the last year.

"It would seem that the British wine drinker has begun to discover the delights of Malbec. Wines of Argentina has done a great job marketing Malbec and its many virtues over recent years, and alongside its increasing availability in retailers and on wine lists, the result has been a growing familiarity amongst consumers. With the fourth annual Malbec World Day celebrations kicking off, these positive sales results are great news for Malbec," said Graham Nash, product development manager for Tesco.

Please click to read more about Cambalache or Andrew Maidment's recent Q&A with harpers.co.uk.

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