WINE OF THE WEEK: Domaine Bousquet Finca Lalande The Land Organic Cabernet Franc 2024, Uco Valley, Argentina

£10 on offer (from £12), Waitrose

Wines made from Cabernet Franc often feature as good reds for summer because they can be enjoyed lightly chilled, but that doesn’t mean they always have to be served from the fridge or ice bucket or are only suitable for summer.

This Argentine organic Cabernet Franc is a treat when lightly chilled, but it’s a fuller bodied example of the grape variety than many and works well at this time of year and through the dark days of winter served at around 17ºC (probably way cooler than any room you’ll be drinking it in, but quite warm enough for almost any red wine).

It’s a Cabernet Franc with the classic signature of cool green spice and herbs, woven through in the 2024 with generous floral, plum and red fruit – and it’s vinified and aged without oak, giving full expression to the purity and generosity of the flavour.

Finca Lalande The Land Organic Cabernet Franc is from Argentina’s large, pioneering, organic Domaine Bousquet in Tupungato, Alto Gualtallary in the foothills of the Andes, where the 270ha of vineyards sit at a lofty 1200m.

Technically, it’s desert and when Frenchman Jean Bousquet alighted on the place in 1997 it was virgin territory. He had to dig for water before he could plant any vines. Today his daughter Anne and son-in-law Labid Al Ameri own and run the estate.

The wine pairs well with pink lamb, rare beef, including with salsa verde or chimicuhurri, and with roast pork. It can also be paired with rabbit with olives, seared pigeon breasts, vegetable kebabs or veg traybake, vegetarian stuffed butternut squash and Spanish-style chickpea and spinach stew. 14.5%. Empty bottle weight: 400g

Domaine Bousquet Finca Lalande The Land Organic Cabernet Franc, Uco Valley, Argentina

£10 on offer until 28.10.25, then £12, Waitrose

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