A Return to Normalcy
Lately I’ve been having some trouble with the bottles of cabernet franc we’ve opened. One was odd (e.g., jalapenos), and another was bad (e.g., oak table). That made it that much nicer when I got some nice fruit and spice from the bottle of ’07 Gadino Cellars cab franc we drank recently. This was our last bottle of the ’07, and we were curious to see how it had changed with a bit more time in the bottle.
The nose had lots of fruit (as is typical of so many of the ’07 reds when ripe fruit was not a problem). Initially I got dried fruit aromas, but then fresh cherry and plum elements came through along with some cinnamon and a hint of black pepper. The best way I can describe it is as a holiday plum pudding kind of nose. It was definitely one I could, and did, spend a lot of time savoring. While dark fruits were definitely the predominate flavor in this wine, there was also a lot of spice in there (cinnamon, clove, mace). The oak was fairly balanced, and the additional time in the bottle definitely smoothed and softened the tannins in the wine.
Now, people had to really work to screw up a red wine from 2007. It was hot and dry at just the right times to get really ripe fruit that led to full-bodied, fruity, and complex wines. It was definitely still possible to over oak or otherwise mess with a good thing, however. After my recent experiences, I was glad to have this be the wine I opened. Of course, I’m still trying to figure out cab franc. It was a wine I’d had little to no experience with prior to moving from VA, and I’m still not sure I know exactly what makes for a good cab franc as opposed to just a wine I enjoy made from cab franc grapes. Oh well, at least this learning experience involves sipping away during study time. What do you look for in a cab franc?
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I was just recently having the conversation with a professional colleague of mine- one who makes an annual trek to Napa to tour wineries with his wife- about these complex definitions of flavors found in wines and the fact that these often elude us. I mean, holiday plum pudding nose? Jeez, baby, way to make me feel inadequate. Why not just compare me to Isaiah Mustafa, the guy in the Old Spice commercials? “I’m on a horse!” I really did enjoy this cab franc, however. It was bold, dark, fruity, and a little spicy without having that pronounced pepperiness that some cab francs have, and it was all around well balanced. I’m going to call this one a winner!
I’m glad you both enjoyed this Cab Franc. Moreover, I’m glad you’ve taken to embracing this varietal. There are still many expressions of this grape in the bottle in VA, and the world for that matter. We pride ourselves on our estate Franc (Can’t say estate on front label unless we are in an AVA, and, sadly, we’re not… rules, rules) I’m sorry to report the 07 is gone except for our Library. The good news it twofold, we still have cases libraried that we present in a Franc vertical event on the Sat. of MLK weekend, and the 08 is released, and even though a more challenging growing season, we believe is every bit as good. In Feb (very young in the bottle) we got Silver at the Finger Lakes Int’l and then we got a Gold at the Taster Guild Int’l in May. One question – would you care to assist with our tasting notes? : )
Derek. Thanks so much for chiming in. It’s great to hear from folks at the wineries we talk about.
As for tasting notes, some days I’m on and others, sadly I’m not, but I am trying to work on being better able to identify what I taste in a wine so I can figure out what I like and don’t like about a given bottle. Blogging has been a great tool to help me develop this kind of awareness.
As for label rules…I’m only just starting to figure them out, so I mostly just ask a ton of questions (a better way to get info about the wine in my opinion) which is made easy since we buy almost all of our wines directly from wineries.
As for cab franc – I’m still learning about this grape and working on figuring out what is it that makes me react so positively to some wines while more neutrally or negatively to others, but I’m definitely excited for your ’08 now. We tasted it on our last visit and picked up a bottle to hold fora a while (we’ll see how long it lasts).