The scent of black -Truffles and Malbec

Posted on September 20, 2012 by admin

This lovingly shot video post came from a great site called Grape Radio. Their Vimeo site is here. The idea of truffles having the same response to ‘terroir’ is something that’s becoming more obvious as our local Truffle Festival rolls on. There was a presentation by Prof. Gary Lee (PDF) at the 2012 Truffle Growers Association annual get together that pointed out what the specific chemical ingredients were that affected the tastes.

Here’s the description from Grape Radio on this video. The local chef featured is Hervé Bourg.

The Cahors region of Southwest France is as rightly famous for its black truffles as it is for its Malbec: two products that exemplify the scent of black.

Black truffles are almost literally as valuable as gold in the culinary world. Prized for their glorious scent, black truffles are fungi that grow exclusively on the roots of oak trees. Found in late autumn and winter, the truffles cannot be seen since they grow under the ground. Pigs, or specially trained dogs have been used to search for these elusive truffles. About 20% of the French production comes from southwest France, which possesses the limestone soils and dry hot weather that truffles need to grow.

In the late 19th century, an epidemic of phylloxera destroyed many of the vineyards in southern France. Large tracts of land were set free for the cultivation of truffles. Thousands of truffle-producing trees were planted, and production reached the peak of hundreds of tonnes by the end of the 19th century. Wars during the 20th Century decimated the fields. After 1945, the production of truffles plummeted, and prices rose dramatically. In 1900, truffles were used by most French people, and on many occasions. Today, they are a rare delicacy reserved for the wealthy, or used on very special occasions.

Originally a common grape in Bordeaux, Malbec has lost popularity as one of the five varieties in the Bordeaux blends. Meanwhile, Malbec increased its status in the French region of Cahors, an area southeast of Bordeaux, where it creates distinctive wines that now require 70% of the variety.