2012 La Jota Cabernet Franc Restricted Yverdon Vineyard

Community Tasting Notes (3) Avg Score: 92.3 points

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  11/16/2020 - vegasoenophile Likes this wine: 92 Points

  The tartness I found a while back has abated and this is in a great window right now. Beguiling nose of pine forest and meadow flowers with granite and cranberry pomegranate chutney. Flavors of red licorice with bay, rosemary, violet and dried rose petal with underlying cassis. Some interesting hints of cola/sarsaparilla on the mid palate through the finish. A fascinating journey.

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  7/13/2018 - Mark1npt Likes this wine: 94 Points

  A whiff of alcohol on opening.....blows off within 15 minutes. Cherry/floral on the nose, good weight in the mouth, plenty of silky red fruit and softening tannins. This is a cab franc lovers cab franc. No sharp edges. Very nice and well worth the price point. Wish I had more of this '12.
  
  ps...with more like 2 hours of air there is a definite black pepper on the end. it is subtle but pronounced and lengthly.

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  5/30/2018 - msuwine Likes this wine: 94 Points

  This ripe and toasty Spring Mountain Cab Franc is drinking well right now. I admit to being a skeptic of full-fledged Cab Franc, but this has an intriguing balance of rich fruit and integrated oak that made me keep coming back for more. Cherry red in color, medium in body, enveloping nose of blueberry, baking spices, and fresh toast. Lovely and integrated tastes of black cherry, rhubarb, plum, graphite, and mocha, with a somewhat rustic finish that smooths out after an hour of air. 15.5% alcohol. Drink in next year or two.
  
  The oak (80% new) and fruit (27.3 Brix) are noticeable, but Carpenter still manages to tame the savageness of the modern approach and make gentle the fruit of the Napa mountains (with sincere apologies to Aeschylus and RFK!). In more precise terms, the ripeness and oak smooth out the rough edges of the varietal. Instead of harsh green pepper, there is roasted red pepper; instead of cocoa beans, there is sweet mocha; instead of astringency, there is silkiness. I prefer this generous approach, though purists (and/or ascetics) might reasonably disagree.
  
  I often find Carpenter's work to be unique in two ways. First, he challenges the false dichotomy between classical and modern wines in CA. His wines are restrained and tannic, but they are also ripe and oaky. They are classy, and they are welcoming. This could be a function of working with mountain sites, but it's hard to find those who occupy this middle ground so successfully. (Dan Massican at Larkmead, though, is one I would nominate, given how he offers savory and ripe wines from a unique valley site.)
  
  Second, Carpenter makes the difficult look easy. Working with mountain fruit, he is dealing with areas that can get overly ripe (Pride) or overly tannic (Dunn). Carpenter avoid these extremes and achieves a form of balance - not crazy-concentrated, not anorexic-thin, not wait-until-after-you-die-and-then-it-might-taste-good, but some form of golden mean that is just right. Drinking Carpenter's wines sometimes reminds me of watching a step-back three from Steph Curry in the playoffs: it's really hard to do, but he makes it seem natural, almost inevitable. Even if this isn't my favorite Carpenter wine, it is impressive... and quite tasty. 94+.

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