Bodega Benegas Lynch Estate Cabernet Franc
WHY WE LOVE IT
- The wines are crafted from the finest grapes sourced from carefully selected plots with low yields per hectare.
- Aged for 18 months in new French oak barrels, this wine is made from grapes sourced exclusively from estate vineyards at Finca Libertad, located on the upper banks of the Mendoza River in Cruz de Piedra, Maipu, at an elevation of 850 meters.
- The Cabernet Franc grapes were originally planted by Tiburcio Benegas in 1899.
- These exceptional wines are produced in limited quantities and only in the best vintages. Drink now or cellar 15 to 20 years.
Varietal Composition: 100% Cabernet Franc
Elaboration: Wine production starts with cold maceration, followed by alcoholic fermentation at 25°C for 20 days, and then an additional 20 days of fermentative maceration. Malolactic fermentation occurs in 500-liter first-use French oak barrels, where the wine is aged for 18 months. After this, the wine is bottled and aged for 5 years, totaling 18 months in barrels and 5 years in the bottle.
Tasting Notes: Notes of ripe black fruits, roasted red bell peppers and the characteristic freshness of the varietal combine with fermentation notes that bring elegance and aromas of vanilla and cocoa. This is a powerful wine, with a strong presence of ripe and juicy tannins. On the mid-palate, it unfolds a play of layers where the aromas perceived on the nose are distinguished and accompany the wine in a way that complements it, giving it great elegance with a very expressive, long and persistent finish.
PRESS
2019 = 94 James Suckling | 91 Wine Advocate
2020 – 92 James Suckling
2021 – 92 James Suckling
PRODUCER BACKGROUND
Finca Libertad is planted in an old riverbed, located on the edge of the Alto Río Mendoza, in the Cruz de Piedra area. It was planted with vine cuttings brought by Don Tiburcio from France in the 19th century. Three-meter-high walls were built to avoid the floods caused by the melted snow water flowing down from the Andes mountains during the summer season.
In 1999, Federico Benegas Lynch purchased what Ángel Mendoza, Trapiche’s Head Winemaker, considered to be the best 40 hectares of the old Finca Libertad.
The Finca Libertad is an old riverbed, with alluvial, stony soils, with some sand and superficial layers of clay. As vines suffer great stress in these poor soils, it produces low yields with excellent quality fruit resulting in superb wines. Despite fertilizing with organic guano, the yields are extremely low because of the vines’ old age.