Quieto Alegre 2015

Red wine from Argentina! Must be Malbec you say? Well, almost but not really. MonteQuieto, a small family run winery in Agrelo (Lujan du Cuyo, Mendoza), came to fruition in 2003 over none other than…a bottle of wine. The husband and wife team met, fell in love, bought a farm, and had their inaugural vintage shortly after the birth of their first child. So what makes this wine so different from all those other big reds you’ve tasted from Mendoza? For starters, it’s primarily Cabernet Franc (with of course a fair chunk of Malbec blended in). Since its inception, every vintage has less and less Malbec in it, more and more Cab Franc. Secondly, they use all indigenous yeasts, and use natural fertilizers (guano and barley shoots); neither of which are popular winemaking practices in South America. The wines are terroir driven, and each plot of vines is carefully considered before being added into the blends. So two very different varietals have come together to create a wine with the elegance and fresh fruit of a Malbec, and the tannic structure that you would expect from a South American Cabernet Franc. With a touch of Cabernet Sauvignon, just for good measure, this wine is rich with black fruits and violets on the nose, and plush with tannins on the palate.