The history of Corazón del Sol's Rhône Revolution in Argentina & the birth of 'Luminoso'
After founding and developing ‘Top 100’ wineries in California’s Napa Valley (Revana Estate) and Oregon’s Willamette Valley (Alexana Estate), Dr. Revana’s passion for adventure brought him to Argentina and through serendipity, 15 years later, his place in Argentina Wine history has been written as the pioneer of the Rhône Revolution in Argentina.
Dr. Revana’s first visit to Mendoza in 2008 during a chance adventure to Uco Valley with the pioneer of old-vine, single-vineyard Malbec (Santiago Achaval) led him to the western edge of Tunuyan. Surrounded by thousands of hectares of native desert and covered by endless stones, it was the place that would ignite the dream to create Argentina’s first ever wines with the Rhone varieties.
2008
Dr. Revana and Santiago plant the first single acre of Grenache in all of Los Chacayes and the first acre of Mourvèdre in all of Uco Valley (68,000 acres of vineyards), along with one acre of Syrah from cuttings brought from hill of Hermitage (Northern Rhone).
2011
Three years later, a the first clusters were hand-harvested and put into a 10HL fermenter to co-ferment together, they became a part of Argentina Winemaking History with the birth of ‘LUMINOSO’.
After 24 months in barrel, 100 cases of the 2011 Corazón del Sol ‘Luminoso’ were released to become the first Grenache – Syrah – Mourvedre wine in the history of Argentina.
2024
Today, the majority of the Grenache and Mourvedre vines in Uco Valley can be traced to cuttings from the Revana Vineyard. Revana and his team at Bodega Corazón del Sol feel honored to have the opportunity to share these special vines and believe some of the world’s greatest wines will come from the Los Chacayes region for decades to come.
Over the past few years, Dr. Revana has also been able to purchase the original vineyard blocks of Marsanne and Roussanne in the Los Chacayes IG of Uco Valley, bringing all of the original Grenache, Mourvedre, Marsanne and Rousanne vines of the region under one stewardship, that of Bodega Corazón del Sol.
These wines have also developed serious acclaim from wine writers globally, from Wine Spectator to Wine Advocate and Tim Atkin MW. Receiving 94+ point ratings nearly every vintage.
Production is still incredibly limited due to the small vineyard holdings, only a couple acres. Many of the wines are only available directly at the winery in Uco Valley or through Bodega Corazón del Sol’s allocation mailing list.
