A Wine Made Just For Pope Francis: ‘Big. Bold. Rich. Approachable.’

NAPA, Calif. (RNS) It was a good thing for Trinitas Cellars that Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio took the name Pope Francis, and not, say Pope Malbecius.

When the Argentine cardinal became pope in 2013, Trinitas didn’t have any malbec — the famous Argentine grape — in its cellars. But it happened to have a few barrels of cabernet franc.

Behold! Thus was born “Cabernet FRANCis,” a 2012 red wine from Trinitas, a Catholic-owned winery nestled behind the iconic grape crusher statue at the southern foot of the Napa Valley.

“Everything is a gift from God — the grapes, the water, the sun, the laborers,” he said as he sipped the pink Rose’ary. “We can look at these (bottles of wine) as offerings back to God. It is a great way for me to participate in that gift.”

Garrett Busch said two of the Faith Collection’s wines — Psalms and RatZINger — will not be pressed again, and he has no plans to add to the collection until the next papal election.

“We are going to make a wine for each pope,” he said. “I just hope the Holy Fathers keep having names that relate to wines.”

The Huffington Post