Before Malbec became Argentina’s signature grape — before the vast, sun-drenched vineyards of Mendoza made it one of the most recognised and beloved red varieties in the world — it was French. Malbec originated in south-west France, where it is known as Côt in the Loire and as Auxerrois in Cahors, the ancient hilltop town on the Lot river where it has been producing deep, dark, intensely flavoured red wines since the Middle Ages. The South of France remains one of the variety’s most characterful and compelling homes — and Hornhead is a wine that celebrates that heritage with a directness, confidence, and sheer drinkability that makes it one of the most satisfying everyday reds in our range. The name is bold, the wine is bolder: deep in colour, with ripe plum, blackberries, and cherries on the nose that are immediately and completely appealing. On the palate it is rich and rounded, with perfectly balanced tannins and a long, smooth, succulent finish that speaks of the quality of the fruit and the warmth of the southern French sun. At £12.49, it is French Malbec at its most generous, most approachable, and most completely itself — the wine that reminds you that Argentina didn’t invent this grape, it just borrowed it.