2017 La Jota Cabernet Franc

Community Tasting Notes (15) Avg Score: 93.6 points

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  1/1/2024 - Mark1npt Likes this wine: 94 Points

  I had one of these 8 months ago and gave it a 96.....so I immediately went out and procured another 2 bottles. Slow ox with cork out of the bottle for 1 hour then enjoyed over 4 more hours from the bottle. This one had a fantastic nose at 1-2 hours. Tons of florals, red fruit and a hint of savory notes. The palate was at best a 91-92 at the start and got to 94 by the end of the bottle but did not get to the 96 of the last bottle. Maybe a reflection on how this was stored the past 6 years? I do not know. But it's still pretty good and again, maybe one of the best '17s out there as far as Cab Franc goes from Napa?

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  6/24/2023 - brigcampbell wrote:

  Blind; I thought this was a Bordeaux blend. Lots of herbal notes, very savory, and good acid. There was a bite at the back end which I may describe as green if you knew it was cab Franc

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  5/1/2023 - Mark1npt Likes this wine: 96 Points

  Ok.....I take it all back. There were at least a 'few' really, really good wines come out of Napa in '17 and this is one of them. I love Cab Franc, even better is mountain Cab Franc. Even better is mountain Cab Franc made by Chris Carpenter.
  
  Right from the pnp, the nose speaks of intense, classy faint blue and intense red fruit, it's perfumed and powerful. Medium garnet in the glass. Juicy, smooth and perfectly integrated. Light brown herbs waft from the glass as well. There's medium plus weight here and good flow through from the front to the back palate. As with all CCarpenter wines in my memory bank, the balance is impeccable. Beautiful acidity ties it all together in a finish that is a good minute long, much like the finish on his '15 Merlot from last night, full of acidity and spice on the back end. This particular bottle only had about 5 minutes at the very beginning of the night, where it reminded me of the prototypical red fruited '17....and it passed quickly with the fruit deepening, adding cassis initially after an hour and only improving further over a 2nd hour in the glass when the fruit turns all red replaced by kirsch instead. My intention was to save the last 3rd of the bottle under cork for tomorrow night and rehash it on a 2nd night like I did the Merlot last night. Unfortunately, I've started binging 'Reacher' again, as I prepare myself for the release of season 2 in the fall. Not sure the rest of this bottle will make it to tomorrow......easy 95-96 for this one. No reason to decant, just pnp and enjoy over at least 2-3 hours or until the bottle is gone.
  
  Addendum: down to my last glass late at night, so now 5-6 hours of total air. Rich cherry fruit, vibrant with riveting acidity and moderately astringent tannins at this point. There was a moment at 4 hours of air where I would have given the wine with its rich kirsch that starts and continues right through to the end of the bottle, a 97. The wine is degrading just a tad now at 95......bottle is best in hours 1 through 4 if opening now. No harm in holding, these will last quite a while but for you fruit hedonists, it's hard to pass up now.

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  4/30/2023 - deb65 wrote:

  Alex Alexander

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  1/14/2023 - TRueNOLA Likes this wine: 94 Points

  1.5 hour decant. Solid backbone, very prevalent Cab Franc notes.
  
  Nose: red fruit, strawberry, kirsch, vegetal notes, olive?
  
  Body: stewed red fruit, hint of pyrazine/bell pepper but by no means overwhelming.

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