In this month’s 2-bottle basic club we are exploring the Northwest expression of the Cabernet Franc varietal. Cab Franc is originally a Loire Valley grape that was transplanted to Bordeaux in the late 18th century. It is principally grown for blending with Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot in the Bordeaux style, sometimes known as Meritage or Claret but can also be vinified alone, as in the Loire’s Chinon, Anjou, Saumur, and Bourgueil (all my personal favorites but not everyone’s cup of tea). Cabernet Franc is lighter than Cabernet Sauvignon making a bright pale red wine and contributing finesse and a peppery perfume to blends with more robust grapes. Depending on growing region and style of wine, additional aromas can include tobacco, leather, raspberry, sometimes blueberry, bell pepper, and cassis, sometimes even violets. A very complex wine if made to express so and a deep freeze resistant vine that grows very well in the Columbia Valley and Walla Walla regions of Washington and Oregon. Enjoy Cab Franc with rich meaty dishes on the gamier side.
Northwest Wine Project Cab Franc is made from fruit from Elerding’s Six Prong Vineyard. In 2006, the small Cab Franc crop was harvested in late October, yielding wonderfully rich fruit flavors with nice acidity. New oak was limited in order to maintain the expressiveness of this fragrant and complex variety. made by David O’reilly (Owen Roe) for NWVP. This wine is part of the NW Vine Project, a group of inexpensive wines made for an Oregon wine distributor. Made by David O’Reilly (Owen Roe, O’Reilly’s) and Andrew Rich (Andrew Rich Wines).
Chatter Creek Cabernet Franc Alder Ridge Horse Heaven Hills has a bright, deep garnet color, nose of violets, blueberry, and black cherry. Some lead pencil in the beginning then warming to blueberry fruit, plum, cherry and fresh acidity on the mid-palette. The finish continues the interplay of the fruit and terroir, framed in by notes of toasted almonds and vanilla bean. A wine of tremendous balance and attentive winemaking savoir-faire, this Cab Franc deserves not only to be bottled by itself, it could serve as your whole meal. And received 90 points from Parker’s Wine Advocate, September 2007.
And the rest…
Dante Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve is very direct and to the point: typical black current and plum—a ready to drink quaff, this full bodied and silky delicious ‘06 Cabernet shows fine balance on the palate; delivers pleasant, soft red fruit flavors; needs very little air and goes well with beef of any cut.
Annabella Carneros Pinot Noir has great extraction and depth with tasty plum, raspberry and black cherry flavors without being too over the top on the fruit side. It has a dusty, ripe nose with an intricate, earthy finish which is not overwhelmed by too much oak or extraction… well balance for being so young. Soft, supple with wonderful concentration and medium tannins. Nice toasty French oak in the nose and palate. Serve with light meats and especially salmon on the grill.
This Talmard Macon Uchizi White Burgundy Chardonnay will appeal to fans of Pouilly Fuisse at a much-reduced price. Lovely, fresh clean chardonnay from Macon with medium body gives delicious lemon, lime, peachy melon characteristics without as much minerality of a chablis, yet with good acidity and little oak. Thick clay sub soil with limestone is noted in the terroir. Light dishes, poultry, fish, clams, fettuccini, etc…
Pasos de la Capula Tempranillo is very accessible, young and unoaked, created for easy enjoyment. Ths wines come from the oldest winemaking region in Spain, the high central plateau southwest of Madrid. With low rain fall, hot days and cool nights, the 30 year old vines are naturally low-yielding and produce wines ofgood concentration. Deep violet color with intense red berry fruits on the nose, clean and lively, with juicy sweetness and length on the palate. Very good with heavier meaty dishes and anything on the grill.
Bohigas Blanc de Blancs is a clean clear refreshing white wine from Catalogne , Spain. The varietals are Parellada and Xarel-lo which I still can’t pronounce. A nice nose of green apples, fresh and crisp, slight prickle on the tongue due to acidity, this is not an overly complex wine but very food ready. I even saw it paired with certain tomato sauce over shellfish recipes… heaven forbid! Great for hot days on the patio.
Plozza Sfursat is a 100% Nebbiolo. It has a grainy red color with a delicate brownish old world reflection. The seducing scents of raisin compote and panpepato (Italian pepper bread) are accompanied by mellow toasted notes of creme brulee, cloves, white pepper and ripe plums to the palate. Robust tannins with a beautiful flavorsome structure make it an ideal accompaniment for game, mature cheeses, red meat, minestrone soup and roast meat. It can age for 15 years.
Cabanon Bonarda. I had to borrow the review from The Wine Offensive blog because it was sooo right on the most eloquently put money…
Sweet-smelling, soft, herbal aromatics, so subtle, layered and fine. Maturity of taste–like the difference between a fresh vintage of new world Syrah, and a cellared French version. This wine isn’t flashy; it’s slinky. This wine isn’t wearing the short, crotch-bearing skirt of overripe fruit. This is a finely grown gown of dried raspberries, plummy/cherry fruit leather and all those red fruits that border on purple. Mouthfeel–this wine has a rich flavor that lacks the density of new fruit, or the sandiness of young tannins. It’s what we mean by the word “silky.” On a good day, most wine pros would narrow this down to Chianti, Gigondas, or an old Dolcetto, maybe. If I had to come up with a one sentence pitch: The Cabanon Bonarda tastes like the love child of a mellow, elegant, old world Grenache and a high-end Valpolicella.









