2012 Ravines Cab Franc (Finger Lakes, NY)
Nice bottle here, y’all. Forest floor and big strawberries with that iron-y CF component. Rich and tannic with surprising amount of fruit for a FL red, but still unmistakably CF. I’ve had some Napa CF that were so plush as to be unrecognizable to me, but this is CF through and through despite the pumped up fruit.
Anyone else had this? Seems like it’d meet with a lot of love given the QPR. I paid about $16.
East Coast cold-climate Vinifera reds are a tough, tough sell.
It’s like educating folks to the point where they can appreciate a Loire genius like Vatan or Puzelat.
Recently we opened an older North Carolina mountain-grown [or at least grown in the foothills right next to the mountains] Sangiovese, and, when first opened, on Day 1, it was undrinkable.
Yet by Day 3 or Day 4, it had opened up to the point that it was drinking like a fine Bourgogne Villages.
But coaxing that sort of oxidation curve out of cold-climate red vinifera is going to require customer education which is way out beyond the scope of the ability of the average wine shop servicing the average wine consumer.
And East Coast non-vinifera? That’s going to be ten times more difficult still. Maybe 100 times more difficult.
I tried it in their tasting room. In general Ravines made some of the best reds I tasted in the Finger Lakes (Red Tail Ridge being my favorites). I enjoy buying local and having some variety in my cellar, but considering they have to compete with Baudry at the same price its pretty tough for East Coast producers to find real estate in my cellar.
Enjoyed a bottle of Cab Franc on Saturday at Working Dog Winery in NJ (formerly Silver Decoy). Well made, a bit oaky, but a significant step up verses the other local wines. They also had a quite acceptable Rose made from Sangiovese and Cabernet.
Ravines makes an excellent CF. As does RedTail Ridge, however I am partial to their Teroldego. Great QPR on both wines. Fox Run, King’s Garden are others that I like.