Cabernet franc has found great success in Canada. During the border closure I have been drinking my Ontario stash. Michael Pinkus reviews Canadian wines.
The powers that be in wine education in our Ministry of Agriculture, channeling the powers that be at Davis, touted Cab Franc as THE red wine for BC growing conditions and told people that the slightly later ripening time for Cab Sauv. and its lesser resistance to bunch rot were indicators against risking growing CS.
Then growers started to take it on their own to grow CS and even Syrah, in suitable warmer pockets and went on from there. Which is a good thing as one can not live on Loire imitations to the exclusion of other varietal wines.
Pinkus is a useful reviewer but his reviews are slanted toward the significantly different climate in Ontario.
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Ravi Raju sang its praises on the first page of this thread. I agree with both of you.
- 2014 Clos Rougeard (Foucault) Saumur-Champigny - France, Loire Valley, Anjou-Saumur, Saumur-Champigny (10/26/2021)
This evolved throughout the evening, started as slightly reticent with green peppers, under-ripe strawberries and freshly cut grass, but evolved over the evening into a classic Loire cab franc with green vegetables, ripe strawberries and hints of sweet candied perfume and fresh minty herbs. After a couple hours of air this wine composed itself into a more harmonious composition of fresh red fruit, green vegetables and hints of freshly rained earth. Still young but was still quite a good drink, not heavy at all and finish was medium to medium long. Overall a really good showing, looking forward to my other 7 bottles
(93 pts.)
Posted from CellarTracker
Posted by my fellow berserker at the dinner
10/26/2021 - AAGRAWAL favorite WROTE:94 Points
Dinner with the wine group (Zazie’s, San Francisco): Medium-minus ruby, lighter color than expected; incredibly intense aromatics, white pepper, capsicum, red fruit, cherry, strawberry, primary; palate is medium bodied, medium tannin, low-medium alcohol 12.5%, great primary fruit, medium but approachable youthful tannins; medium-plus finish. A great wine, as expected from Clos Rougeard, maybe lacking a bit in length but otherwise stellar in complexity. 94
Over the course of 2-3 hours: Aromatics melded together slightly but still very intense, tannins more moderated and integrated. A wine of purpose and place, and plenty of room to improve in the cellar. Probably my favorite vintage of this base bottling so far. 94+
Excellent. Love that you two guys both popped one on the same night!
Here is my note from 2020:
This 2014 is as I expected: excellent. A classic vintage in Loire. I know some of the critics are raving about the recent really ripe vintages like 2018 and 2015. Ok, sure. They are wrong. Classic is where it is at; classic never goes out of style. Think Audrey Hepburn. This Rougeard has a weightless, silky transparency to it that you just cannot find in other Loire reds. It’s ripe, the range of red fruits is broad, but while the acidic cut is there, it is still pure silk. This is an archetype Loire Cab Franc, has all the markers of green tobacco leaf, bell pepper, ash, crunchy red fruits, but they are all folded into a perfectly integrated, balanced display. The wine also reeks of dark rich earth. The soils here must be something fantastic as so many other Loire Cab Francs show dry earth to me (Clos Guillot excepted). Love the sweet tangy finish. The nose was a bit muted, being the only limiter here.
(93+ pts.)
I agree with the last paragraph more than the one above it. If I have an interest in a region (maybe in the OP’s case just because he likes Cabernet Franc), he should try wines that show why people love the wines of the region rather than wines atypical of the region. Maybe he won’t like them, but maybe he will have an epiphany and love them. Either way, he will have learned something new and have a greater understanding of the wines from a new region. Isn’t that how we all have learned about wine?
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Wasn’t there something in the OP’s post about $40-60? Most Loire wines can fit into this price range. This one???
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Some of the Tuscan IGT and Bolgheri IGT wines are Cab Franc heavy and can be quite good (and in a style that’s probably more similar to a Cali Cab or Amarone than Loire wines). Caiarossa, Vitalonga’s “Phi”(actually from Umbria rather than Tuscan), Le Macchiole’s “Paleo” (Bolgheri), Biserno’s “Lodovico” (Tuscany), and Duemani (Tuscany) are all quite good Cab Franc (or Cab Franc-heavy blends). Le Macchiole’s Paleo Rosso is probably my favorite of those, but it has gotten quite expensive and I stopped buying some years back (probably the 2006 vintage). I recently drank my last bottle of the 2001 that was amazingly good.
We were actually in the same dinner so we were drinking from the exact same bottle I brought. 
At first I thought it was a little closed but others on the table found it quite open from the get go, this was PnP but was followed over the course for 2+ hours.
Re: 2014 Rougeard.
I recall that this was the last vintage helmed by Charly Foucault.
I’ve asked this before, but can’t remember. Is this the last vintage by the Foucault ownership?
Hi Ramon, off the Rougeard producer profile on the Dressner site, I noted the below:
“2020 Update:
After the death of Charlie Foucault in [December 29th] 2015, the estate was briefly ran by Nady Foucault and his nephew Antoine (who also produces the excellent Domaine du Collier wines).
In [June] 2017, Nady chose to sell the estate to Martin Bouyges, owner of many French wineries, most notably Château Montrose in Bordeaux.”
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Not a big fan of Cabernet Franc but this one delivers for $39.99 WTSO Getting a six pack!
2017 Cadence Bel Canto Cara Mia Vineyard - USA, Washington, Columbia Valley, Red Mountain (2/2/2022)
Day 1: Bordeaux Style Blend featuring Cabernet Franc. Outstanding wine with tobacco, wood, raspberries, spice, minerals, floral and dust. Drinking well on the pop and pour. 73% Cabernet Franc,18% Merlot,9% Petit Verdot (Natural cork) 93 points
Can’t wait to bottle my first barrel aged one in March!
Love the variety, especially from Chinon.
Cheers.
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Cadence may be the best kept secret in Washington wines, they consistently hit it out of the park and can go toe to toe with stuff double and triple the price.
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Terra Blanca Arch Terrace CF from Red Mountain is real good.
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IMHO the place where cab franc has really excelled in the new world is New York and Ontario. It is to this region what sauvignon blanc and pinot noir are for New Zealand. In the most recent BD13, Red Newt offered cab franc that after a couple hours of air is very good. Michael Pinkus reviews them in Canada. Before the pandemic I would regularly visit Niagara wineries and buy them. I recently enjoyed a 2015 Kacaba cab franc reserve and 2012 Redstone.
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My favorite Loire-styled Cabernet Franc pretty much every year is Justin Willett’s Lieu Dit from Santa Ynez. The 2020 is $30 and rated 98 points. Oregon producers that are making very nice examples are Thomas Monroe and Kate Norris at Division Wine Company, and Leah Jørgensen, both sourced fro Rogue Valley in Southern Oregon, both are in the 92-93 range and not over $30.
Who rated it 98? That’s a monster score.
Is the Lieu Dit “Sans Soufre” the same wine, or does Justin make more than one Cab Franc?