Durigutti, 2021 Proyecto Las Compuertas Cabernet Franc, Luján de Cuyo, Mendoza, Argentina
Cab Franc du Jour #149
Durigutti Family Winemakers was founded in 2002 by brothers Pablo and Héctor Durigutti. Today they farm 40 hectares organically in the Las Compuertas GI in Luján de Cuyo, and work with grower partners across other sub-regions in Luján de Cuyo, the Uco Valley, and Eastern Mendoza.
Cabernet Franc is central to the Durigutti story. They were among the first in Argentina to bottle it as a single varietal, releasing their inaugural example in 2010. They now produce four different expressions of the variety: an entry-level bottling, a reserva, and a rosé, all from parcels in Luján de Cuyo and the Uco Valley totaling about 10 hectares. The newest addition to the lineup is the Proyecto Las Compuertas Cabernet Franc, the wine we’re looking at here.
Cabernet Franc in Argentina
It’s worth pausing to take stock of Cabernet Franc’s place in Argentina. As of 2023, there are 1,858 hectares planted in the country, representing less than 1% of total vineyard area. Despite those modest numbers, the grape has real momentum: nearly 1,200 hectares have been planted in just the last decade, a pace that speaks to growing confidence in the variety among Argentine producers. While Malbec continues to define Argentina’s identity on the world stage, Cabernet Franc is increasingly being recognized as a variety of genuine distinction in its own right, with a small but committed group of producers leading the charge.
Luján de Cuyo
Luján de Cuyo begins about 10km south of the city of Mendoza and stretches roughly 45km further south. Its proximity to the city means it was among the first regions cultivated with vines, as far back as the 16th century, and it became the epicenter of Argentina’s quality revolution in the mid-1990s, receiving DOC status in 1989. Malbec remains the region’s calling card, with more planted here than in all of France, but Cabernet Franc has a meaningful presence as well. Despite its small footprint, it is the fifth most-planted variety in Luján de Cuyo, with roughly 405 hectares, representing over a quarter of all Cabernet Franc in Mendoza.
The region is characterized broadly by a warm continental climate with very low rainfall, but there is considerable diversity within it. Elevation is the dominant factor, ranging from 690 meters above sea level in the east to over 1,200 meters in the west. That range has given rise to distinct sub-regions with meaningfully different growing conditions, two of which, Agrelo and Las Compuertas, hold GI status.
Las Compuertas
Las Compuertas covers only about 425 hectares of vines, but it is widely regarded as one of the great crus of Luján de Cuyo. The Durigutti brothers were instrumental in establishing the region and have championed its terroir for more than two decades.
Tucked into the Andean foothills at the westernmost edge of Luján de Cuyo, with the Mendoza River marking its southern border, the GI sits at elevations between 950 and 1,080 meters. That altitude brings significant diurnal temperature swings, with warm days and genuinely cool nights, making Las Compuertas one of the coolest sub-regions in Luján de Cuyo, cooler than both Agrelo and Perdriel. Being first in line for snowmelt from the Andes also gives the area an abundant water supply for irrigation. The name itself reflects this geography: Las Compuertas translates to “the floodgates.”
The region’s position in the foothills also means a greater diversity of alluvial and fluvial soils, a mix of large river stones, calcareous materials, and clays carried down from the mountains over millennia. That variability has encouraged producers to identify smaller plots with distinct soil profiles for micro-vinifications, and it is precisely this diversity that inspired the Durigutti Proyecto Las Compuertas range: a series of terroir-driven, single-variety expressions from different parcels at the estate.
The Vineyard
The Cabernet Franc comes from a single hectare planted in 2015 with heritage vine material selected by massale, on its own roots, at a very high density of around 9,200 vines per hectare. According to Héctor, the tight spacing encourages root competition, pushing the roots deeper into the soil in search of water and nutrients. It also helps manage yields naturally, with a target of roughly one bottle of wine per plant.
The block sits at around 1,050 meters elevation with a gentle northeast exposure. The soils are deep, low-vigor, sandy loam with a higher concentration of large, rounded river stones, which drain freely and contribute to the moderate stress that tends to produce more concentrated and expressive fruit. Viticulturally, the team practices selective shoot thinning, shoot positioning, and bunch positioning to optimize sun exposure throughout the canopy. The vineyard is irrigated by flooding rather than drip, a method that also encourages the root system to develop deeper into the soil profile.
In the Cellar
The fruit is hand-harvested and destemmed but not crushed, preserving the integrity of the individual berries going into fermentation. The wine is fermented in unlined concrete eggs using indigenous yeast, preceded by a one-day cold soak to gently extract color and aromatic compounds before alcoholic fermentation begins. Fermentation proceeds at 23 to 25 degrees Celsius, and the wine spends 21 days on skins in total, with regular pigeage throughout both fermentation and the post-fermentation maceration. Aging continues in the concrete eggs for approximately eight months before bottling, a vessel that allows for gentle, gradual development while preserving the freshness and texture that define the wine’s character.
Wine Details:
Producer: Durigutti Family Winemakers
Region: Mendoza
Sub-Region: Luján de Cuyo
Appellation: Las Compuertas IG
Vineyard: Finca Victoria
Soil: Deep, sandy-loam with large, round river stones
Alcohol: 12.8%