The Grape: Cabernet Franc 100%

The Appellation: Mendoza, Argentina (Tupungato)

The Description: The style of the Tupun Cabernet Franc Reserva is elegant, with a clear color and a nose of blackberries, cassis, roses and graphite. Full bodied with firm tannins, it offers rich flavors of blackberries, black currant, and spice. The finish is long and mouth-coating.

The Vineyards: The name Tupun is after the Tupungato Volcano, the second highest volcano in the America’s at 21,555 ft of altitude. Tupungato’s base is about 30 miles away from Bodega del Tupun’s vineyards. The word Tupungato means “starwatcher” in the Huarpe language since the Mountain is so high.
All grapes are hand-picked in 10kg baskets (22lbs).  Harvest is done at night to avoid fermentation before the grapes reach the winery and for better control. Grapes are de-stemmed and hand sorted before fermentation. Altitude of the vineyard is over 4900 feet above sea level, which provides great variation in temperature between day and night, resulting in longer growing seasons. Since the vineyard gets to rest at night with the cool temperature, it produces riper grapes and later harvests, which makes intense and full-bodied wines.

The Winemaking: Aging of the wine is done for 14 months in second and third use of French oak barrels and concrete tanks and then at least another 12 months in the bottle before release.

Alcohol Content: 13.5%

Pairs Well With:  Complements grilled meats, pasta, pizza and vegetable dishes.  Serve at 60-65 degrees F.  Decant if possible.

The Winery: Our winemaking tradition dates back to the early 20th Century in the region of Andalucia, Spain. In the 1950´s Manuel Pelegrina (father) decided to leave his natal Spain and look for his future in Argentina, as so many other European immigrants did. He chose the valley of Tupungato (province of Mendoza) as his home, mainly because of its similarity to his native Andalucia, but most important conditions the Valley of Tupungato had to offer for cultivating grapes, activity he knew very well. Then, in 1994, at the encouragement of the younger generations, the family began to bottle their wines under their own label. Still as growers in1995, the family re-dedicated its efforts in the vineyards by limiting crop yields through careful vine management. In a commitment to produce superior quality estate wines, our fermentation cellar was redesigned and production was decreased by two-thirds. Also during this stage the re-conversion program of the vineyards began.

See also:  Tupun Reserve Malbec, Tupun Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon