If you like mountain cabs, I’d encourage to try La Jota cab franc, for $100. If you’re looking for a total hedonistic valley cab franc blend (40% cab franc 60% cab), Bevan’s EE Tench is mind-blowing good, for $195.
Michael, is Turnbulls cab franc significantly superior to their estate grown cab sauv? I find it to be one of those “please everyone, impress no one” type of wines.
I think the Turnbull CS wines are better. But I think the Leopoldina Cab Franc is a step up over the other CFs in their stable.
I like the way you put your assessment…seems to be the house style with a lot of horses in the stable. That being said, they do make some stand out individual wines (e.g., Pierra, Black Label)
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Call the Pavilions on Marguarite and Oso in Mission Viejo, ask for Shoene. or anyone can help.
see if they have the Virage Red which is primarily CF. Good stuff
Thanks Brig.
I have shopped there, more for groceries than wine, but they do have a nice selection for a grocery store.
I live in Nellie Gail, so pretty close.
And, thanks all.
Lots of recs for me to filter through!
Not sure if they still have the library open but during the summer Pride was selling older vintages of their CF to customers.
From Red Mountain in Washington, I like Terra Blanca. A blend of two Cabernet Franc clones. Blueberry and raspberry with a hint of Earth.
Kapcsandy
2017 RAPSZODIA
APPELLATION Yountville, Napa Valley
BARREL AGE 20 months in 100% new French oak
BLEND 100% Cabernet Franc
ALCOHOL 14.2%
Good recommendation, Tom, and I’ve loved just about every Cab Franc that’s come from Alegría Vineyard in RRV. Frankly, I think most of the wines posted in this thread - at least those that I’m somewhat familiar with - are on the bigger, Cabernet Sauvignon-like end of the Cab Franc spectrum. Probably 80-90% of California Cab Franc falls into that category. I did a blind tasting a few years ago of lighter, Loire Valley-inspired California Cab Franc bottlings (along with some French ringers), and can recommend some others.
I’d say my favorites of the tasting were:
Broc (from Santa Barbara County fruit)
Tessier (past vintages from Alegría Vineyard fruit, now from El Dorado County)
Lo-Fi (from Santa Barbara County fruit)
Babame (from El Dorado County fruit, made by Steve Edmunds)
Others a notch below but still good:
Methode Sauvage (from Bates Ranch, Santa Cruz County)
Prima Materia (from Lake County)
Krater (from El Dorado County)
We also had one from Bailiwick but they’re no longer in business.
As with the Ryme Cab Franc, I don’t think any of these were even approaching $50 - I’d guess all were $35 or less. I think the higher the price, the more Cabernet Sauvignon-like the wine is likely to be.
The tasting was to help prepare for our first Cab Franc at Harrington Wines in 2017. Unfortunately Bryan Harrington decided to close up shop after the 2018 vintage, and although I like the Cab Franc wines we made there, I felt like we were just starting to get a handle on the fruit sources and what were the best ways of dealing with the fruit from them.
Tom - at our Cab Franc tasting we had a starting course of Vermentino, featuring Ryme of course!
Hey Ken, I remember that tasting you did and wrote down a few of your recommendations. Thanks for the reminder. Fully agree that as the cost of CF goes up it’s likely to take on much more CS character.
And that RYME Vermentino is also an annual buy for us.
Tom
Trivia-Cabernet Franc is the most expensive grape per pound grown in Napa Valley.
+1 on La Jota and Pride. Also, if you like the style of La Jota then you will probably enjoy Mt. Brave. It is a little less expensive than La Jota but made in a similar style, with Chris Carpenter as the winemaker.
Ed
Is there a particular reason you’re focusing on California Cab Franc? My wife is a huge fan of Cab Franc. We have a bottle at least once a week but it’s usually from the Loire Valley, it’s usually $15 and generally delicious.
I. Brand (Bates Ranch)
Tessier
Broc
A few years back I tasted with Trespass. Best California Cab. Franc I had ever had. Realm Falstaff is also very good but there was something about Trespass that was quite compelling.
Mainly because my wife likes CA reds much more than Old World wines. I may try a Chinon for comparison as suggested earlier in this thread.
Figured I’d start with CA Cab Franc and then venture out to other regions if it is a varietal we like.
Fair enough. If you’re used to CA wines, the Loire could be a bit of a disappointment.
Give Larry’s (Tercero) 2016 Cab Franc a shot. I just got a shipment of them today.
On the top end if you want to treat your wife sometime, B Cellars does a Dr Crane Cab Franc and Tor does a To Kalon. These are 98+ $200 type wines and limited quantities.
Because (1) I love cab franc and (2) I’m a hopeless Wine Berserker with no control of his spending impulses, I went ahead and ordered three bottles of RYME. Looking forward to trying them. Thanks for the rec.
Have you looked at any of these de Negoce cab francs?