I have a love-hate-like-despise-enjoy-disdain relationship with Cabernet Franc. Let me explain.
Years ago, Cabernet Franc was thought to be the red Bordeaux grape variety for Pennsylvania. I remember John Crouch telling me that Carl Haseler (Penn State viticulturist) came through the area once in the 1980s extolling the virtues of Cabernet Franc. "It tastes just like Cabernet Sauvignon and ripens two weeks earlier!" was the phrase John repeated to me. First, it doesn't taste like Cabernet Sauvignon, but secondly, it does ripen earlier....except when it doesn't.
Cabernet Franc is the progenitor grape to Cabernet Sauvignon (look it up.) All the issues we have wits Cab Sauv (unripe tannins, hollow mid-palate, too much acidity) can be partially blamed on Cabernet Franc. Add to that the rampant Red Blotch virus that most of Pennsylvania Cabernet Franc is infected with and your left with innocuous wines at best. Not my glass of wine, please.
If you can find some wonderful French clones that are virus-free though....amazing things can sometimes happen. The wine gets this elegant perfume redolent of violets and seduces you with a sweetness in the mid-palate that is just overwhelming. At its height, Cabernet Franc is glorious and heavenly.
That said, our 2022 Cabernet Franc is not that wine.
That said, our 2022 Cabernet Franc is a legitimately serious wine on its own merits. Let me explain.
We grow Cabernet Franc in our Block Six here at Cadenza Vineyards. It's not a great piece of real estate, but it does face south. Unfortunately the last few rows get some shade in the latter part of the season, and hence we're particularly aggressive in our leaf-pulling. No herbal/vegetal characters in this wine. The block is roughly one acre, planted to ENTAV's clone 214 on 101-14 rootstock. If I knew then what I knew now, I'd have chosen Riparia Gloire or maybe even 420 MGT, but it's hard to have regrets at this stage. The budwood was chosen from select vines from Black Ankle Vineyards. Ed and Sarah were gracious enough to allow me to take cuttings from their vines (which I then had tested for viruses....and they came up clean.) We sent the cuttings to Herrick Grapevines in California who did the propagation for us (and through whom we paid the respective royalties), and we planted them in 2015.
The wine in 2022 wasn't amazing, but the bar has been set pretty high for "amazing" here at Cadenza. This vintage of Cabernet Franc is what I always hoped it could/would be: a pure example of what this grape can do in Pennsylvania. There is no sublimity, no clandestine toying with the senses, no ethereal characters. It is simply Cabernet Franc with a few edges but no blemishes.
I wish the acidity were a little lower, as it would have given a little more sweetness. I wish the tannins were a little more ripe, but they lend a certain savoriness to the wine. I wish the aromatics popped more in the glass, but as they are they are heady enough. This is a wine for earthy dishes and lighter red meats. Think mushrooms and rosemary and brown rice side dishes to match the meat.
This is our first Cabernet Franc under the Cadenza label. Hopefully it won't be the last, but it does tell the story of the vintage as well as the story of the grape all in one glass. You only need to ask.
Comments
Post a Comment
By posting on here, you are guaranteeing that what you say here is worthwhile and worth saying. And something that you would say in the presence of your mother. If not, I will be forced to remove it.