Bridging the Northern and Southern Hemisphere Divide with CARO Wines

Photo by CA

Admittedly, I kind of wanted to hate CARO.

Not because of the wine, which as you’ll read in a minute or two is well worth talking about, and well worth seeking out if you enjoy very good wine and don’t want to pay too much for it (which is basically all of us, right?). No, I wanted to hate CARO because it’s just the kind of big-wine-companies-joint venture (a project between Argentina’s most awarded winery, Catena, and France’s legendary Lafite Rothschild) that is almost too clever for its own good. The operative word here being Almost.

The idea in marketing terms makes a whole lot of sense. Joining the two signature grapes of its partner companies and their home wine regions: Malbec, and Cabernet Sauvignon, respectively. That’s the kind of cleverness that makes wine people like me start to roll their eyes far enough into the backs of our heads that we could theoretically start to see what’s left of our own gray matter.

Here’s the official marketing take, from CARO’s U.S. importer:

“CARO was born of the alliance between two wine cultures (French and Argentine), two noble grape varieties (Cabernet Sauvignon and Malbec), and two renowned wine families, Domaines Barons de Rothschild (Lafite) and Nicolás Catena. Both vignerons since the 19th century, these two powerful organizations have combined their deep knowledge of Mendoza’s high altitude terroir and the art of winemaking to create a unique portfolio of wines: CARO, Amancaya, and Aruma. Two noble grapes, two families, one dear and elegant portfolio of wines.”

However, this is a marriage where quality and delivery far outweigh clever marketing, and in some cases actually results in quite a lot of bang for the buck. Apparently, no amount of marketing sheen can tarnish the consistent quality record of these two particular juggernauts - making CARO a winner no matter which way you dissect it.

Photo by Joe Roberts

2018 Bodegas Caro ‘Aruma’ Malbec (Mendoza)

When I tasted these samples live with CARO’s French Jura-born estate director Philippe Rolet (via Zoom), he mentioned that “Malbec is a pretty easy grape in the winery” - adding the essential and important caveat that this is true only if that Malbec was properly tended to when it was growing in the vineyard.

Meaning “night” in the language of mendoza’s native Quechua people, this particular example of the region’s signature red wine variety sees only stainless steel fermentation and aging, in order “to capture the typicity” of CARO’s site. That site is a whopping 3000 feet in elevation, allowing the grapes to develop thicker skins and, therefore, more phenolics to pass on to finished wine made from them. This little over-achieving red is mineral, and fantastically spicy (think notes of smoked meat, coffee, tobacco, and graphite), with equal parts power, tannic grip, and freshness buttressing its red and blue fruit-filled palate. Consider the typicity aptly captured!

2017 Bodegas Caro ‘Amancaya’ Gran Reserva (Mendoza)

This red is a Cabernet/Malbec blend named for a high-elevation flower that is traditionally used as an engagement offering in the region. Rolet cited the cold and dry 2017 vintage as “one of my favorites.” While the mouthfeel here isn’t abundantly complex, it is absolutely lovely, with supple, ripe, brambly fruits. There’s a nice mix of smoothness and freshness, and complex earthy hints on its finish. Aromatically, this is intriguing stuff: dried herbs, plums, cassis, currants, graphite… like a great marketing scheme, it’s just very hard to resist.

2017 Bodegas Caro ‘Caro’ (Mendoza)

Their flagship red, from a selection of vines grown on calcareous soils, topped off with a clever name (think about it, you’ll get it), with the Cabernet and Malbec spending time in 50% new oak from Lafite’s own cooperage. There’s a lot to like immediately with this red, like all of its blackcurrant, graphite (again!), dark chocolate, violets, dried herbal spices, smoked meat, and sweet tobacco aromas. In the mouth, it’s powerful, fresh, structured, and fruity; if that all sounds well-integrated and balanced, that’s because it is well-integrated and balanced. I guess there’s more to this than a clever name, after all.

Cheers!

Follow me to see more articles like this.

...

Follow