Siesta En El Tahuantinsuyu, Cabernet Franc 2012, Mendoza, Argentina

Tasting Note: A fulsome, aged, Argentinean cabernet franc with concentration that could stand up to a steak.

Deep-intensity ruby in color, this wine has an aromatic, medium-plus-intensity nose of red plum, ripe red cherry, crushed-dried violet petal and kirsch with a hint of vanilla baking spice and rose petal.

On the palate the dry, full-bodied cabernet franc has medium-plus-intensity flavors suggested on the nose supported by slightly grippy, medium-plus tannin.

The midpalate is filled with concentrated fruit and is velvety in texture.

Bottle Note: Sometimes, new, marvelous places produce strong sensations in our mind and body. Such was my good fortune when I first encountered the Tahuantinsuyu, the realm of the Inca culture. The Incas would often bury offerings to the land so that it would remain healthy and fertile. Following this ancient tradition, every year we bury in our vineyard a few bottles of our best wines, hoping that while sleeping their endless “Siesta,” they will protect our vines, people and harvest. Only grapes from the best lots of vineyard are fermented in small bins. The wine is later aged in French and American barrels for 14 months, and then sits in bottle until ready to be released. Intense, complex and elegant, Siesta wines are our best effort to express the “varietal” personality, enhanced by the unique characteristics of the terroir. Ernesto Catena, Createur du Vin. High quality, natural, idiosyncratic, eccentric wines from Mendoza, Argentina.