Community Tasting Note

forceberry wrote:

Friday, April 2, 2021 - 100% organic Cabernet Franc from a 50-yo vineyard. Fermented and macerated for 5 weeks in tronconic oak vats. Aged for 12-24 months in old oak barrels. 13% alcohol.

Dark, almost fully opaque black cherry color. Fresh, crunchy and moderately dark-toned nose with aromas of tobacco, some herbaceous notes of cooked bell pepper, a little bit of blackcurrant and dark plummy fruit, light inky tones, a hint of fresh bilberry and a touch of farmhouse funk. The wine feels ripe and fruity yet dry on the palate with a medium-to-moderately full body and dark-toned flavors of bilberries and juicy blackcurrants, some plummy fruit, a little bit of farmhouse funk and leather, light tobacco notes, a hint of stony minerality and a herbaceous touch of cooked bell pepper without any obvious green tones. The structure is just on point with the rather high acidity and gently grippy medium tannins. The finish is long, slightly funky and gently grippy with a dry aftertaste of leathery funk and tobacco, some blackcurrants, light plummy tones, a little bit of cooked bell pepper, a bretty hint of stable floor and a woody touch of pencil shavings.

A very tasty and serious Bourgueil that is less about classically herbaceous, green-toned Cab Franc and comes across as more like an old-school Bordeaux with its dry, dark-toned and blackcurrant-driven aromatics. You can taste that this is from a solar vintage in the emphasis on the ripe fruit tones and the lack of herbaceous greenness, but the wine is nevertheless fresh, dry and crunchy - exactly as I want my Bourgueils! All in all, a wonderfully balanced and harmonious Cabernet Franc. Drinks wonderfully now and will most likely improve for at least a handful of years more; probably peaking in 4-6 years. Terrific.

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