Boom Varietal: The Rise of Argentine Malbec
How a grape that had all but vanished from France found its home in Mendoza — and became one of the fastest-growing red wines in America.
Produced and co-directed by Kirk Ermisch, founder of Elixir Wine Group and owner of Bodega Calle in Luján de Cuyo, with Sky Pinnick of Rage Productions.
A grape nobody had heard of, in a country nobody bought from.
Malbec was once a blending grape in Bordeaux and the backbone of the wines of Cahors. In Argentina it found a dry, high-altitude home that suited it better than anywhere in France — and for decades almost nobody outside the country noticed.
Boom Varietal was shot on location around Mendoza over eight weeks, following the growers, winemakers and investors caught up in the boom as it happened: what it built, who it made rich, and what it cost the people who had been farming those rows all along.
It premiered at BendFilm in October 2011 — in the town where we make our Oregon wine — and went on to screen from Napa to Mendoza.
Five festival wins, and selections from Napa to Mendoza.
Also an official selection at fifteen further festivals — among them the Napa Valley Film Festival, BendFilm, and the Mendoza Film Festival, where the story is set — with honourable mentions from the New Jersey Film Festival and the Wine Spectator Video Contest.
Where to find the film.
Distributed by First Run Features. Available on DVD from Amazon, direct from the distributor, or from us.
We have been buying Mendoza Malbec since 2000.
Elixir began importing Argentine wine before most American buyers could place the grape. We still represent six family estates in Mendoza — including Carmelo Patti and Matías Riccitelli — and own Bodega Calle, founded in 1925 in Luján de Cuyo.