Mature California Cab Francs Blindtasted

Introductory comments by tasting organizer Ross Bott:
Cabernet Franc is best known as one of the five varietals which make up the Bordeaux family, and often is used to complement its more famous brother, Cabernet Sauvignon. However, it is more correctly known as Cabernet Sauvignon's father, as the latter varietal is actually a cross between Cabernet Franc and Sauvignon Blanc. Cabernet Franc produces a slightly lighter colored wine than Cabernet Sauvignon, and is characterized by notes of cassis, pepper, violets, and cigar box.

On the East Bank side of Bordeaux, Cabernet Franc shares the front stage with Merlot; together they are the primary components of many of the top Pomerols and St Emilions, such as Cheval Blanc, Ausone, Pavie and others. As Miles in Sideways demonstrated, Cab Franc can taste great even if it is drunk out of a plastic cup and paired with a hamburger.

Outside of Bordeaux, Cabernet Franc is the only varietal in many Loire red wines, including Chinon and Bourgueil, where it can produce spectacular, long-lived wines. Small amounts are also grown in Canada, where it is even occasionally made into a red Beerenauslese-styled ice wine.

In California, there were tiny amounts of Cabernet Franc planted since the beginning of the twentieth century. However, interest increased dramatically in the early 1980s, when California winemakers, who were then prone for focusing on 100% varietal bottlings of Cabernet Sauvignon, began to realize that there was something to the 200 year old Bordeaux tradition of blending several varietals. Plantings of Cabernet Franc were begun in both Napa and Sonoma Valleys, and California's "Meritage blend" tradition begun.

Occasionally, wineries had more Cabernet Franc than they needed for their Cabernet blends, and a few began experimenting with pure Cab Franc bottlings. Caymus, La Jota, Dehlinger, Chimney Rock and a handful of others were pioneers in this area. Others, such as Nelson Estate in Sonoma, planted only Cabernet Franc and set out to make a pure varietal version from the start. Tonight, we'll try a collection of these early Cabernet Franc bottlings to see how they have evolved over 15-25 years, along with one Bordeaux blend with Cab Franc as a primary component. Here's the lineup and some tasting notes:

1986 La Jota Vineyard Co., Howell Mountain, 14.5%: "The brilliant 1986 Cabernet Franc has aged exceptionally well. It has never gone through a dumb period and continues to develop without losing any of its gorgeously rich fruit or unctuous texture. Still exhibiting a youthful opaque dark plum color, with no amber, it possesses a sweet nose of underbrush, blackcurrants, minerals, and spices. Lush, thick, rich, and medium to full-bodied, with gorgeous balance and loads of sweet fruit, this is a delicious, complex, fully mature wine that should continue to drink well for another decade. Bravo! The tasting notes for this section are from two single blind tastings, one conducted in May, 1996, in California, and the other in June, 1996, in Baltimore." (91/100, Robert Parker)

1986 Caymus Vineyards, Napa Valley, 13.0%: Caymus has a small planting of Cabernet Franc that it uses for blending into its estate Cabernet Sauvignons. In years where they feel the Cabernet Franc stands out on its own, they produce an unblended bottling. They have done this five times in their history, and this was their first. No reviews available for this rare bottling.

1986 Nelson Estate, Sonoma County, 12.5%: David and Holly Nelson are from Seattle and both worked for Northwest Airline, he as a pilot and she as a flight attendant. They bought 60 acres in Sonoma Valley with the goal of focusing on Cabernet Franc and Chardonnay. This, their first Cab Franc, was made by well-known winemaker Kerry Damsky, "the wandering winemaker". 100% Cab Franc. No reviews available.

1988 La Jota Vineyard Co., Howell Mountain, 13.5%: "A lovely expression of Cabernet Franc ..." (89/100, Wine Spectator)

1992 Dehlinger, Russian River Valley, Estate bottled, 13.5%: Like Caymus, Tom Dehlinger grows small amounts of Cabernet Franc for blending into what he's called his "Bordeaux Blend" (more recently "Claret"). For several years during the late 80s and early 90s, he kept some aside for producing a varietal Cab Franc which he sold only at the winery. Most of them were wonderful and aged very gracefully. The 1992 was his last and probably his best.

1994 Ravenswood, Sonoma Valley, 13.4%: Ravenswood is another winery which has experimented both with Cabernet Franc and Bordeaux Blends, and occasionally produced a varietal Cab Franc. This was their first.

1995 Ravenswood, Rancho Salina Vineyards, Sonoma Valley, 14.2%: "Earthy currant, leather, spice and cedary notes ..." (89/100, Wine Spectator) The Rancho Salina vineyard is near the top of Moon Mountain in southern Sonoma Valley, and was planted by Dominic Paino, who was one of the cofounders of Carmenet (whose top of the line estate vineyard is also on top of Moon Mountain). This wine is a blend of Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Merlot.

This was a lovely bunch of mature and maturing Cali Cab Francs, reminding me of how relatively rare it is for this delightful and food friendly varietal to be represented by single varietal bottlings in California. The '92 Dehlinger was the clear front runner for the group, and I quite liked it too, but found a touch more complexity and depth in the '94 Ravenswood. The '95 Ravenswood, our only blend, was second for me and third for the group. I also enjoyed the Nelson and the two La Jotas. The only one that didn't work for me, and that I found somewhat disjointed, was the '86 Caymus. All in all, these were a strong argument for the ability of Cali Cab Francs to age gracefully and to provide a lot of pleasure. I only wish this State made more of them.

• 1992 Dehlinger Cabernet Franc 92 Points

  USA, California, Sonoma County, Russian River Valley

  Group's #1 (my #3) – 16 pts; 6 1st place votes, 2 2nd place votes, 2 thirds, 0 last places – dark red violet color; nice tobacco, sautéed padron chile nose; maturing, full bodied, tart plum, tobacco, cedar, charcoal, mineral palate; medium-plus finish 92+ pts.

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• 1994 Ravenswood Cabernet Franc 93 Points

  USA, California, Sonoma County

  Group's #2 (my #1) – 34 pts; 2, 2, 1, 0 - dark red violet color; youhtful tart currant, mineral, sweet smoke, menthol nose; tart plum, menthol, mineral palate, with good acidity; medium-plus finish

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• 1995 Ravenswood Rancho Salina Vineyards 92 Points

  USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Valley

  Group's #3 (my #2) – 34 pts; 1, 1, 3, 0 - dark red violet color; lovely tart red fruit and tangy olive nose with a sense of ratatouille; youthful tart red fruit, mineral, tart cherry, slightly herbal, olive palate; medium-plus finish 92+ pts. (42% Cabernet Franc, 40% Cabernet Sauvignon, 18% Merlot)

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• 1988 La Jota Cabernet Franc 85 Points

  USA, California, Napa Valley, Howell Mountain

  Group's #4 (my #7) – 37 pts; 1, 3, 0, 1 - bricking dark red violet color with pale meniscus; red currant, oak, tobacco nose; arch tobacco, green, smoky, disjointed palate; short-medium finish

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• 1986 La Jota Cabernet Franc 90 Points

  USA, California, Napa Valley, Howell Mountain

  Group's #5 (my #5) – 40 pts; 0, 1, 3, 0 - slightly bricking very dark red violet color; nice, maturing herbal, green bean, herbaceous, tobacco, earthy red fruit nose; silky textured, maturing, tobacco, earthy, tart plum palate; medium finish 90+ pts.

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• 1986 Nelson Estate Cabernet Franc 91 Points

  USA, California, Sonoma County

  Group's #6 (my #4) – 54 pts; 0, 1, 0, 2 - bricking medium red violet color with pale meniscus; mature tobacco, smoky, tart plum, charcoal, mint and menthol nose; low register, tangy, tart plum, black fruit, mineral, padron chile, red currant palate; medium-plus finish 91+ pts.

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• 1986 Caymus Cabernet Franc 87 Points

  USA, California, Napa Valley

  Group's #7 (my #6) – 65 pts; 0, 0, 0, 7 - bricked medium red violet color with pale meniscus; oxidized, dried currant, tobacco, sauteed mushroom, fig nose; mature, tart mushroom, tobacco, mineral, dried currant palate; medium-plus finish

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