Winemaker Notes
Match Punto Final Gran Cabernet Franc with a variety of roasted or barbequed meats. The wine is an ideal partner for game or wintry stews. Rustic pastas and ripe cheeses also make an ideal pairing.
Founded by Patricio Reich, with the collaboration of world-renowned winemaker Alberto Antonini, Bodega Renacer prides itself in bringing consumers the very best wines from South America’s unique terroirs. The winery structure itself is quite impressive, featuring a medieval tower built of rocks with state-of-the-art winemaking equipment. Renacer’s vineyards are located in Perdriel, a unique zone in Mendoza, Argentina, where the soil, altitude, climate and water come together to create the perfect growing environment for Malbec. In addition to Renacer’s more than 35 hectares of Malbec vines, the winery also purchases grapes from local producers in order to take advantage of Mendoza’s many terroirs — those in the Uco Valley, Lujan de Cuyo and Medrano. Vineyards used for Renacer’s bottlings are more than 50 years old and have very low yields. Through hundreds of years of trial-and-error experimentation, French winemakers have recognized that certain areas within a single vineyard produce grapes with different characteristics than other areas within that same vineyard. Thus, fruit from different sections within one vineyard, farmed the same way, harvested at the same time by the same method, and produced into wine with the same technique, can be dramatically different. The soils play a significant role in these differences for each unique terroir within a vineyard. Due to natural geological processes, soil properties can vary over distances as small as a few meters. Recognition of these small-scale variations within a vineyard can lead to wines that better reflect the terroir. Precision viticulture is an indispensable method to work the soil according to its true potential. Renacer determines these variations using digital maps obtained by Electromagnetic Conductivity Measures (ECM). The system registers 1,000 readings per hectare, which are then precisely stored and evaluated by computer and GPS to obtain their exact location within the vineyard. The result is a detailed map of the soil for precise vineyard optimization. This map allows Renacer to divide vineyards into homogeneous areas that are treated similarly in terms of irrigation and harvest time.
By far the largest and best-known winemaking province in Argentina, Mendoza is responsible for over 70% of the country’s enological output. Set in the eastern foothills of the Andes Mountains, the climate is dry and continental, presenting relatively few challenges for viticulturists during the growing season. Mendoza, divided into several distinctive sub-regions, including Luján de Cuyo and the Uco Valley, is the source of some of the country’s finest wines.
For many wine lovers, Mendoza is practically synonymous with Malbec. Originally a Bordelaise variety brought to Argentina by the French in the mid-1800s, here it found success and renown that it never knew in its homeland where a finicky climate gives mixed results. Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, Merlot and Pinot Noir are all widely planted here as well (and sometimes even blended with each other or Malbec). Mendoza's main white varieties include Chardonnay, Torrontés, Sauvignon Blanc and Sémillon.
Cabernet Franc, a proud parent of Cabernet Sauvignon, is the subtler and more delicate of the Cabernets. Today Cabernet Franc produces outstanding single varietal wines across the wine-producing world. Somm Secret—One of California's best-kept secrets is the Happy Canyon appellation of Santa Barbara. Here Cabernet Franc shines as a single varietal wine or in blends, expressing sumptuous fruit, savory aromas and polished tannins.