D.

Although it is now famous in Argentina, Malbec’s ancestral home is Cahors, a tiny, ancient wine region in southwest France. The late French ampelographer (a botanist who classifies grapevines) Pierre Galet documented over 1,000 different synonyms for Malbec. In the nineteenth century, Malbec was a slang term for someone who spoke badly of others (from the French mal, or “bad,” and bec, or “mouth”). There must have been a lot of malbecs in Cahors, for the word became a common surname—and an affectionate term for the local grape. Today (April 19, 2024) is Malbec Day!