Maquis Franco Cabernet Franc 2011
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Robert -
Suckling
James
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
I found the 2011 Franco simply phenomenal. It is pure Cabernet Franc with those earthy aromas that make it somehow austere and edgy. The fruit is ripe and there are no herbal aromas; it's spicier, nothing green for sure, with a subtle and recurrent balsamic note akin to camphor. The palate is medium to full-bodied with abundant fine-grained tannins, again somehow austere and in need of some more time in bottle and/or powerful food. There is very good acidity here, great balance and a sense of harmony common in only the best wines. Tasted next to the 2010, it has more sophisticated, finer tannins and better freshness. This is a great Cabernet Franc that is elegant, complex and subtle, with inner strength and power, and able to develop nicely in bottle. I'd wait a bit to pull the cork myself.
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James Suckling
Aromas of blackberry, blueberry and stone follow through to a medium body, solid core of fruit and a long and firm finish. Shows tension and focus.
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Wine
The Hurtado family has owned the Viña Maquis vineyard for more than a century, but it wasn’t until almost 20 years ago that the family decided to make their own wine out of the terrific grapes in their own backyard. They built a state-of-the-art gravity flow winery and set out to make the Maquis winery one of the great properties in all of South America.
Located in Colchagua Valley, the winery’s focus is on distinctive single-vineyard, estate wines, as well as producing “balanced” wines that are not over-ripe (resulting in excessively high alcohol) but also not exhibiting any of the “green” character that sometimes plagues wines picked from grapes that have not fully matured. The Maquis main vineyard is essentially an island: it is deeply influenced by the Tinguiririca River on one side and the Chimbarongo Creek on the other. These two large waterways once brought alluvial sediment from the Andes and today act as pathways for cool coastal breezes that help moderate the warm Colchagua summers, contributing to the intensity, character, fruitiness and mineral elements of the Maquis wines. Maquis is fortunate to have such a privileged location.
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.
Well-regarded for intense and exceptionally high quality red wines, the Colchagua Valley is situated in the southern part of Chile’s Rapel Valley, with many of the best vineyards lying in the foothills of the Coastal Range.
Heavy French investment and cutting-edge technology in both the vineyard and the winery has been a boon to the local viticultural industry, which already laid claim to ancient vines and a textbook Mediterranean climate.
The warm, dry growing season in the Colchagua Valley favors robust reds made from Cabernet Sauvignon, Carmenère, Malbec and Syrah—in fact, some of Chile’s very best are made here. A small amount of good white wine is produced from Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc.