Antucura Barrandica Vista Flores Mendoza Cabernet Franc 2019

Antucura enjoys a well-deserved reputation for fashioning polished, boldly flavored Bordeaux varietals and blends, wines that combine Old World charm with New World flavors, and Antucura’s 2019 Barrandica Vista Flores Mendoza Cabernet Franc (92 Points – James Suckling; 90 Points – Tim Atkin; 90 Points – Wine Enthusiast) certainly fills that bill. It may also be the best value in Cabernet Franc anywhere. The deeply colored 2019 Antucura Barrandica Cabernet Franc offers a thrilling aroma from the moment it is poured. Red fruits, black currants, bell peppers, and dark chocolate tones emerge from this stylish wine. The wine’s berry flavors and heady aromatics re-emerge in the mouth carried on velvety tannins that enliven the palate. The wine’s berry flavors meld with hints of cacao, crunchy celery, vanilla, and spice owing to a 6-month hiatus in French oak barrels, while ripe, healthy tannins seamlessly integrate into the wine’s savory ganache of fruit and spice. Balanced and concentrated, the 2019 Antucura Barrandica Cabernet Franc finishes with style, making it a joy to drink now and over the next several years. For optimal enjoyment, afford the 2019 Antucura Barrandica Cabernet Franc 10-20 minutes of aeration before serving at cool room temperature (58°-62° F). Anticipated maturity: 2023-2027. Enjoy!

For those seeking a flavor-filled red wine to sip and savor or to accompany a hearty meal, they need look no further than the 2019 Antucura Barrandica Vista Flores Mendoza Cabernet Franc. Full-flavored meats and spicy dishes provide ideal companions to Antucura’s 2019 Barrandica Cabernet Franc. Beef and lamb are favored accompaniments in Argentina and earn high marks in the company of this wine. Veal Medallions wrapped with prosciutto ham get a serious nod as does Roast Colorado Rack of Lamb served with potato gnocchi, pearl onions, and mushrooms. Spicy brisket tacos make fine companions, too. Duck Breast served with a berry sauce over wild rice or faro provides another tasty accompaniment. Lentil and Chicken Sausage Chili offers yet another fine companion to Antucura’s 2019 Barrandica Cabernet Franc. And, if the truth be told, all one might want with this delicious wine is a few morsels of a flavorful cheese. Buen Provecho!

Antucura’s highly acclaimed 2019 Barrandica Cabernet Franc makes an ideal companion to many of the world’s finest cheeses. Gouda, Havarti, Irish Cheddar, and Port Salut truly shine in the company of Antucura’s 2019 Barrandica Cabernet Franc. Cantal and Comté make tasty partners, too, as will most cow and sheep’s milk cheeses. To learn more about the world’s finest cheeses, join us at www.cheesemonthclub.com.

Antucura Winery is the “little jewel” of Mendoza’s Uco Valley. It is located at the foot of the Andes Mountains in the town of Vista Flores. The winery’s high altitude vineyards are planted to classic Bordeaux varietals that bask in the long, dry sunny days for which Mendoza’s Uco Valley is renowned. Antucura draws its name from the indigenous Mapuche tribe who called vineyard rocks “sun stones.” Those precious sun stones proliferate in Antucura’s vineyards, imparting limestone to the soil, excellent drainage, and enough warmth and vigor for Antucura’s wines to attain 14% ABV or more. Antucura specializes in producing Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Argentina’s signature varietal, Malbec, all of which are bottled as single varietals as well as classic Bordeaux blends such as the Antucura Calcura and Antucura Grand Vin, the latter a superlative meritage blend of Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Malbec. Many of Antucura’s vines were purchased from a nursery in Pomerol, Bordeaux that supplies the great Château Petrus and other renowned Bordeaux châteaux. Antucura’s high density planting of 5,500 plants per hectare limits yields and helps control and monitor the production of each grape variety. With plenty of sun, stony soils, and a wide temperature range between day and night, Antucura’s grapes develop intense varietal characteristics as well as an elegance that is rarely seen in other Argentinean wines.

At Antucura, every step in the viticultural process is managed to the smallest detail by French winemaker Hervé Chagneau and owner Anne-Caroline Biancheri. Together, they fashion exceptional wines that blend the special attributes of Uco Valley’s terroir with classic French wine-making to give a sense of place and elegance to each Antucura wine.

Although reluctant to rely on gender stereotyping of grape varietals or their particular characteristics, a compelling case can be made for describing Cabernet Franc as the feminine side of Cabernet Sauvignon. Cabernet Franc, whose origin appears to be the Pyrenees Mountains in southwest France, is one of Bordeaux’s oldest and most prestigious grape varietals. It predates Cabernet Sauvignon by centuries and recent DNA testing has determined that Cabernet Franc and Sauvignon Blanc constitute the actual forebears of Cabernet Sauvignon and not the other way around.

In its spiritual home of Bordeaux, Cabernet Franc figures prominently in both Left and Right Bank wines, with the most esteemed Right Bank appellations of Pomerol and St. Émilion relying more heavily on Cabernet Franc’s propensity to ripen earlier than its modern, more famous offspring, Cabernet Sauvignon. Add Cabernet Franc’s hauntingly beautiful fragrance, enticing berry, currant and leafy flavors, along with rounder, more accessible tannins than its progeny, Cabernet Sauvignon, and it is easy to see why Cabernet Franc is now uniformly esteemed in Bordeaux and increasingly sought after by New World wineries.