22 January 2015, The Tablet

Poured out for the few


 
After the Argentinian Jorge Mario Bergoglio was elected Pope, a Catholic winemaker in California saw an opportunity. Why not make a wine for him? Trinitas Cellars winery in Napa Valley realised it didn’t have Argentinian malbec grapes, but did have cabernet franc. So Tim Busch produced Cabernet FRANCis, and presented Francis with a bottle last year. When drinking it with lunch, the Pope was impressed, and the Vatican contacted Trinitas for more bottles. The wine is now on sale, but doesn’t come cheap at US$75 (£50) a bottle. It is not the first time Trinitas has made wine for a pope. In 2008 it produced RatZINger for Benedict XVI, made from Californian zinfandel grapes, on sale for US$35 (£23).Busch is a trustee of the Papal Foundation, a charity that supports the
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