Intense ruby colour with red berry fruit on the nose, along with spicy notes and hints of figs, menthol and eucalyptyus. These lifted flavours continue to the palate and are backed up by smooth integrated tannins and fresh acidity to crteate a long finish.

El Porvenir de Cafayate is a small, family-owned winery in Cafayate, the dry mountain desert region in far North-Western Argentina near the city of Salta towards the Uruguayan/Brazilian border. El Porvenir specialise in Torrontes, Malbec, Tannat and red blends from 45-50 year old vineyards which are amongst the highest in the world at 1900m asl and peopled with 20-foot, 200 year old monster cacti. Colour in the reds here is profound due to the exposure to prolonged mountain sunlight, with soft tannins due in part to the extreme diurnal temperature differences – when Boutinot winemaker Eric Monnin and New World Product Manager Robin Naylor bumped onto the runway at Cafayate’s sleepy airstrip there was thick frost on the cacti but within a few hours it was 24 degrees. The winery and vineyards date from 1890 with the winery and estates being bought and restored by the Romero-Marcuzzi family in the 1990s. Winemaker Mariano Quiroga Adamo is one of Argentina’s brightest young winemakers and El Porvenir benefits from the sage involvement of renowned winemaker Paul Hobbs, who has been involved here for many years. The company is run by the energetic Lucia Romero-Marcuzzi and the packaging and labels reflect the Inca Cross which is a common symbol in this part of the Andes. El Porvenir – “the future” has been the name of this estate has since it was founded in 1890. There are three vineyard sites in the high and incredibly dry Cafayate Valley – the latest plantings are up at 2000m on bare rock. The changes in winemaking philosophy here - moving away from American oak, more vineyard expression, terroir and plantings in unplantable areas are the future for El Porvenir.

Finca El Retiro: vineyards located at 1.750 mts above sea level in Cafayate, Salta. Pergola and parral. Production: 6 tones/hectare. Vineyard age: 45 years old. Harvest in 1st and 2nd week of April. By hand in bins of 20 kg.

Pre-fermentative maceration for 6 days at 4 ºC. Alcoholic maceration for 15 days at a controlled temperature between 26 ºC and 28 ºC. Post-fermentative maceration for 10 days.. Spontaneous malolactic fermentation.

Red meat is the order of the day, with barbecued lamb or chargrilled steak being a good match.