2012 Black Sears Cabernet Franc Estate

Community Tasting Notes (5) Avg Score: 94.2 points

• Options

  • Post a Comment
  • View ogres3's profile
  • Report Issue

  4/10/2023 - ogres3 Likes this wine: 92 Points

  Drinking very well. Did not really know what to expect. Remarkably similar to a cab without the density.

  Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment

• Options

  • Post a Comment
  • View winespine's profile
  • Report Issue

  11/21/2021 - winespine Likes this wine: 94 Points

  Wowzers, a second happy place wine in the same sitting! Black Sears is also among those wineries vying for the title of most underrated producer in the Napa Valley. With vineyards sitting at 2400 ft near the top of Howell Mountain, this wine comes from one of the more spectacular settings in the region. This was decanted for 4 hours and consumed with a gorgeous charcuterie board. It opened up beautifully with the constituent parts in harmony, but I think another few years would benefit this bottling. It’s not as rustic or earthy as some great Loire Cab Francs, but its a delicious mix of red/black fruits with some spiciness on the palate that more than holds is own against Cab Franc from anywhere. I’d be hard pressed to think of a California Cab Franc I’ve had that’s this good. Thomas Rivers Brown was the winemaker.

  Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment

• Options

  • Post a Comment
  • View J @ y H @ c k's profile
  • Report Issue

  10/30/2021 - J @ y H @ c k Likes this wine: 94 Points

  Still too young but coming along beautifully. Decant for about 30 minutes then follow for two hours. It kept getting better over time, so it could probably use a 3+ hour decant, or another 5 years in bottle. The nose was floral in an odd way - it was like the floral additive that they sometimes put in nail polish, without the acetone. The palate was dark red fruit with some cocoa and a bit of high grade vanilla. Flavors from the oak without tasting like wood. There was not a lot of Howell Mountain pepper spice, although I think this is Howell Mountain estate fruit. One of our favorite wineries hits another home run. We drank this with grilled prime sirloin and each stood up to the other.

  Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment

• Options

  • Post a Comment
  • View Pgreenbe702's profile
  • Report Issue

  5/20/2018 - Pgreenbe702 wrote: 94 Points

  Black Sears continues to produce some of the best fruit in all of Napa Valley. Good luck if you can get your hands on some of the wine that they make themselves. If not, hopefully you can be lucky to pick up wine with fruit that they sell to other winemakers. I would make this a priority every year. I would take time to comment on this particular wine, but then it would take away from the enjoyment of this cab Franc bottle.

  Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment

• Options

  • Post a Comment
  • View Mike's wine cellar's profile
  • Report Issue

  12/25/2017 - Mike's wine cellar Likes this wine: 97 Points

  So good. Save the last bottle until 2020.

  Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment

Professional reviews have copyrights and you can view them here for your personal use only as private content. To view pro reviews you must either subscribe to a pre-integrated publication or manually enter reviews below. Learn more.