April 17, 2019 - Last bottle �� love the variety!
March 13, 2017 - Didn't review my first of four bottles but remember not being impressed. This bottle was a different experience. Dark, nice nose. Paired perfectly with a grilled ribeye, asparagus and chocolate cake. Seems to be improving.
September 18, 2016 - ruston makes really good cab franc
April 27, 2016 - My second bottle, first review. The first bottle (tasted several months back) was quite disjointed and I was hoping that this would stabilize so I put the rest away for a while. Wow, has it improved! Fruit-forward and light to medium bodied, but at the same time it is substantial and mouth-filling with a long finish. Really, really nice and I look forward to drinking the remaining 4 bottles.
January 28, 2016 - Nice fruit forward cab franc. A bit thin in weight but flavorful.
January 16, 2016 - Received this as a gift and instructed to "open soon"; interesting as I'm sitting on some '07 I've not sampled. I think I tend to more reserved old-world style, but have to admit this drank well at PnP, even better on day two. Plenty of fruit, and perhaps that's what is hiding the 15.4 AbV. Curious, need to try one of those '07's now.
December 15, 2015 - Great bouquet on the nose. It will continue to open up. Very fruit forward and medium body. Delicate and sweet. Delicious. Good finish.
October 23, 2015 - Medium plum red. In the nose, entry and finish this wine screams of alcohol — 15.4% to be exact. Cabernet franc and merlot grapes in the Napa Valley tend to jump in sugar almost overnight. Sometimes growers and wineries can't get them picked soon enough once this happens. I suspect this is one such case. I detect little, if any, oak aging.
The label says "Cellared and bottled by" which indicates that the wine was bottled at a facility other than where the grapes were crushed and the wine aged. My guess is that the Ruston family is mainly a grapegrower but that they choose to custom crush some of their grapes to sell wines under their own label. Bottom line: There is little Cabernet Franc character, but if you like high alcohol reds this wine's for you. Better the 2nd day. Tasted twice.
October 18, 2015 - I'm used to drinking old world cab franc, and this is quite a bit different. Fruit forward in a big way, but with great herbal complexity and structure. Kind of like a Napa Cab without the cassis but heavy on herbal/mint notes. Very enjoyable to drink. Wish I had more.