Yes, it’s under the name Malbec that Cot is better known across the Atlantic (note that the grape variety can also be written as Côt – the circumflex won’t raise any eyebrows). Cot is a grape variety that produces wines with a dark color, fruity and tannic. Aromatically, Loire Valley Cot produces wines with flavors of peony, pepper, and plum (at least that’s what the experts say!). The Cot grape variety also offers good aging potential; with years, Loire wines based on Cot soften and their tannins become silkier.
Among the winemakers producing Cot in the Loire Valley, we can mention: La Grange Tiphaine, Xavier Frissant’s wines, Domaine Bonnigal Bodet, Domaine des Bessons, and Domaine des Pierrettes. While Loire Cot finds its preferred zone in a strip stretching from Monlouis to Saint-Aignan, it’s also found in Anjou and the Saumur region. Today, Cot in the Loire Valley represents about 8% of the total grape varieties in the Touraine AOP. So it’s far from trivial: in the Loire Valley, Cot is hot!
