B.

Malbec has become widely associated with Argentina, however its ancestral home is Cahors, a tiny, ancient wine region in southwest France. Here, the wine is known as le vin noir, “the black wine,” not only because of its dark color, but also because of its severe, tannic, black fruit flavors. Curiously, the grape grown in Argentina makes a much softer wine. The world Malbec is actually a nickname for the grapes true ampelographic name: Côt. In the nineteenth century, Malbec was a slang term for someone who spoke badly of others in the region. The word became a common surname—and an affectionate term for the local grape. April 17 is World Malbec Day.