TN: Some Cab Francs on a Saturday afternoon

SOME CAB FRANCS ON A SATURDAY AFTERNOON - (2/26/2012)

A group of us found ourselves without plans on a blustery and snowy afternoon in northeast Ohio. The bat signal went out, a theme of Cab Franc was chosen and we met up to taste some wines, shoot the breeze and have a good time. All wines were consumed over three hours. The first half of which, the blinds were consumed blind. Everything was pop and pour.

  • 2007 Kinkead Ridge Cabernet Franc - USA, Ohio, Ohio River Valley
    Very solid showing. 07 truly was a special vintage in Ohio. This wine held its own. Its in a good place right now and may be maturing a bit faster than some of the wines on the table, but still not fully mature. Purple in color. The nose has some funk, and bit of Kirsch. Some tannins. This has a nice depth and complexity to it. It improved over the few hours it was open. Good fruit. Glad to have a couple of these left. For around $17 at release, a great QPR. (90 pts.)

  • 2007 Pott Wine Cabernet Franc Pantagruel - USA, California, Napa Valley
    Seemed to be the crowds WOTN although no vote was taken. Purple in color, some ruby at the edges. Lots of boysenberry fruit on the nose. This took some time to open. With air, some funk developed and maybe some tobacco. Great texture. Thick but juicy. Lots of black cherries on the palate. As it unwound, there was more and more complexity. My only bottle of this, it was opened too early in the name of science (well, and fun). A delicious wine. (94 pts.)
  • 2009 Corvidae Wine Co. Cabernet Franc The Keeper - USA, Washington, Columbia Valley
    Purple in color. Opaque. This is a fine wine. It was just a bit innocuous for my tastes. Nothing much on the nose. Sweet, juicy red fruit on the palate. Somewhat tannic. It is young, so perhaps it develops a personality. Interesting label. (87 pts.)

  • 2007 Sineann Cabernet Franc Champoux Vineyard - USA, Washington, Columbia Valley, Horse Heaven Hills
    Purple/ruby in color. The nose was a bit different here than the others. It had an iodine and dusty quality along with the black cherries. This is nice and more restrained than the others. There is some development and complexity. Nice acidity that added a juicy quality to it that helped cut thru the tannins. Slight heat on it. Still some upside to its development. (90 pts.)

  • 2003 Viader Cabernet Franc Dare - USA, California, Napa Valley
    The wine that was in the best place today and the most ready to drink IMO. At first this comes of big/Aussie-like on the nose. Spice, black raspberries, some dust. It has a wonderful texture though. With air, it comes together and smooths out on the nose adding a tobacco quality. Black cherries and flat out delicious on the palate. Some chocolate qualities to it too. IIRC tasting this in its youth and it has developed quite well. No hurry though. (92 pts.)

  • 2007 Domaine de Noire Chinon Soif de Tendresse - France, Loire Valley, Touraine, Chinon
    A nice enough wine that probably would show better at the table than in the company of some of these wines. The nose has an odd red wine vinegar note. Its also dusty with a bit of dark cherries. On the palate, this has a bright acidity to it along with tart cherry fruit. Slight tannins. Nice wine, but needs some food. (87 pts.)
  • 2009 World’s End Cabernet Franc Against The Wind - USA, California, Napa Valley
    Very tight. Just starting to open when we were done. Inky purple in color. It has a soft texture but there seems to be an underlying complexity if tightly wound. Good black cherry fruit. Difficult to evaluate, but given the texture and depth, I suspect in five years (and longer) this will show much better. (90 pts.)

Posted from CellarTracker

Loren,

Thanks for sharing. Very interesting “experiment”. Glad to see that others like franc as much as I do.

Thanks for the notes, I have 1 bottle of the 2003 Dare I have been eye-ing… only one I ever bought.
Last week, I brought a 2003 Pride Cab Franc to my brothers and blinded him and a friend. No one could guess Cab Franc, though they both guessed a Napa “cab” … It was much more fruit forward than I expected with blackberries and boysenberries, but with enough tannin and wood to balance it out - it was really great.
For some reason I always think of Cab Franc has having more green vegital notes.

Nice lineup. Good to see the Franc getting some love.

Nice notes, as always. Let me know the next time something like this happens as I’d love to meet up with local folks more often!

Gary, I agree but perhaps thats a holdover from Bordeaux and Loire wines in less ripe years. No real green notes on any of these wines.

David, - OK.

Seems like franc is either vegital or blueberry. Personally, I don’t buy franc that is of the former character as I prefer the berry style. The only franc that succeeds in marrying blueberry and vegital to me is Arietta.

Blueberry seems to be mostly a new world Franc profile, particularly Napa and WA. Pomegranate is the most common profile I find in Chinons.

Veggie is also pretty common, but it does vary. I don’t find the grassy/hay profile very attractive, and that can be common comming from inferior sites in the Loire or CA regions where sugars develop much more quickly than flavors. At a certain point, though, the “green” flavor becomes more like tobacco than a weedy flavor. For me that is the dividing line between a ripe veggie flavor and an underripe one.