March 3, 2017 - Lost in the cellar. Its way past its prime, but worth nothing what I discovered.
A little funky on the nose at first, but after that blew off I found smoke, wet gravel, vegetal and wood notes. An indistinct black fruit.
Strong fine tannins, heft vegetal notes, wood and a little tobacco leaf.
May 20, 2012 - - Ruby color - Delicious. Light and fruity body. Drank with a big hearty meal. I felt it would have been better with a nice salad at lunch versus hearty meal with dinner. But delicious none the less
September 16, 2010 - Consistent with last bottle 5 months ago. Structured for further aging, for sure, and very enjoyable now. Shows its provenance extremely well, and a fine example of the Loire cab franc expression.
April 23, 2010 - Nose is vegetal with minimal to no fruit components and none of the expected tobacco leaf. On the palate, green pepper, earth notes, and slight, dusty tannins which integrate well with the smooth palate profile. Minimal finish. Overall, nothing earth shattering, but pleasant. Seems to be on its way out the door.
April 8, 2010 - No mistaking this for a new world wine, that's for sure. Got everything that Snoman described (nice description!) with the addition of a very vegetal flavor on the transition from the mid-palate to the finish. Fruit is definitely muted and soft compared to most new world reds. Not my favorite profile, but I enjoyed it to a certain extent. I've had other Loire Cab Francs with more extracted fruit that I enjoyed more, though.
April 6, 2010 - Very pleasant surprise, and a really nice example of a Loire Cab Franc. Nose was funky, hints of black fruit and earth, but palate was soft expression of blue fruit, dust and earth, graphite, tobacco with a touch of leather, supported by integrated and grainy tannins and an earthy pleasant finish. Hope there's some more around, this was a very interestingly complex and enjoyable bottle.
March 23, 2010 - Anita: earthy notes mixed with tought cassis/black cherry; slight loam,min, but clear slight swt frt; fine t’s, a bit loose knit, clearly older, short fin. thot new world bord. style merlot.
December 7, 2009 - After reading some of the previous notes, I expected this wine to be a chore to drink. Instead I found it instantly appealing, with a nice mix of dusty currant fruit and earthy herbal elements. I definitely got tobacco leaf, as dhonig noted. The fresh acidity and medium body made it a nice match with post-Thanksgiving turkey tetrazzini.
I'm no professional wine critic, but soyhead, if you're tasting a wine that's been sitting open on a counter for four days, why even give it a numerical rating?
November 29, 2008 - Night One
The classic identifying odor of Cabernet Franc is tobacco leaf. If you can't place that in your library of odor memories, find the nearest Costco and buy a bottle of this wine. The fruit is either non-existent or merely shut down. What you get is wave after wave of tobacco leaf. Smelling this wine is like walking through the back room of a cigar shop on Calle Ocho in Miami or Ybor City near Tampa (and perhaps, when we finally get done with our useless and counter-productive decades-long idiocy with Cuba, Havana).
Tobacco dominates the palate as well as the nose. If you sip some in, breathe in some air, swirl it around and really try, you can find some red fruit, cranberries and red currants. There is even dark chocolate on the mid-palate. However, tobacco is the dominating feature. The finish is medium length, as is the mouth feel. Acids are bright. Tannins make a light backbone, not overpowering but clearly there and wanting more time to integrate.
Night Two
A night made some difference, but I fear not enough. Tobacco still leads the nose. It has added some eucalyptus and menthol, plus a hint of fennel. On the palate, too, tobacco keeps the lead,with the addition of black olives. Now though, the eucalyptus shows up on the mid-palate.
Acidity remains very bright, along with light tannins, offering a good backbone for additional maturity. Will fruit appear later? Perhaps. It is hard to tell if it is merely shut down or non-existent. This wine, though, provides a classroom demonstration of what "tobacco" means in Cab Franc, and for a mere $13 is worth buying two bottles- one for the lesson, and another to see what happens in 2012.
November 17, 2008 - Clean and fragnant nose, could not detect any flaws. Color was deep purple, very nice. Taste was smooth after opening for an hour, had some depth but only moderate, some berries but not overwhelming...would expect a little more for a cabernet franc grape but ok. Nice tasting everyday wine with or without food. Finish was ok. Would try again for cost/value.