The 2011 Cabernet Franc Lauren’s Vineyard from Agrelo is micro-vinified in 500-liter French oak barrels with the skins and natural yeasts. In this vineyard the varieties express themselves quite clearly and here the Franc shows its more austere side and perhaps the oak is more noticeable. It has an herbal side, with notes of tobacco, earthy, quite classical, perhaps a little too ripe. It is still very good. Drink 2014-2021. As I was completing the texts about Casarena lamenting how I had been unable to taste their top level wines, I received an email from them offering a meeting in Madrid to taste through their portfolio. I was running out of time, but what I had tasted before was worth a new, last tasting in extremis to include in this article... and I’m glad I did. I had visited one of their new vineyards in Agrelo, they call Naoki, that they have just planted on the west side of the ruta 40, where there is an outcrop of chalk, the most sought-after terroir in Mendoza these days. Casarena is owned by two families, one from New York and the other one from Mendoza. They only use their own grapes to produce one million bottles of wine per year. They own three vineyards in Agrelo and one in Perdriel where the winery is located. As many others, they are experiencing a change that I guess started when they hired the advisor Alejandro Sejanovich in search of wines to better express the nuances and differences from each zone. The wines are now under the charge of Bernardo Bossi Bonilla, who had previously worked in Catena with Sejanovich. There has been a big change in the wines since the 2010 harvest: very fresh and drinkable. They are one of the names to keep in mind when thinking about new reds from Mendoza. Now into the wines – 505 is their entry level line, named after their postal code. The single vineyards are produced from Lauren and Jamilla, the first one in Agrelo where the soils are deeper and the second with more shallow soils, a calcareous layer and the bottom composed of big boulders, as it was basically the bed of the Mendoza River. The Poblacion range is based on massale selections to keep the diversity of plants, so the wines can be from more than one vineyard and different terroirs. Importer: Southern Starz, Huntington Beach, CA; tel. (866) 57-STARZ; southernstarz.com

Seductively spiced, with pomegranate and dark currant flavors that blend easily with cardamom notes. Creamy midpalate, revealing hints of ginger snap and licorice on the crisp finish. Drink now through 2018. 400 cases made, 250 cases imported.??–KM??Region: Argentina / Mendoza / Agrelo Select to Add