cabernet franc query

Not cabernet franc but the closest thing to what you're looking for outside the Loire: Corte Gardoni Bardolino from the Veneto.

You could also try a mencia from Spain but I believe the claim that mencia is the same grape/genetic relative of cabernet franc was shown to be mistaken. Still, a lot of them give you a cabernet francish profile, though with fuller fruit.

I used to really enjoy Schneider when you could pick them up at Vintage New York. Sorry to hear they're not around anymore.

There is always Cheval-Blanc and Lafleur...
 
Horton has gone way downhill the last several years. Making about 35 wines per year has not helped.

I can enthusiastically second both Linden and Barboursville. I have not had Willowcroft in many years (but I liked their wines back then).
 
originally posted by Jonathan Loesberg:
I've always liked Linden non-"Chardonnay whites. The Chardonnay's went through a period in which Jim was much too fond of oak and malo, though even those aged well. All of his Chards have surprising aging potential. I've liked his more recent Chardonnays again.

The guy who used to sell him his Glenn Manor grapes has opened his own vineyard and I liked his Sauvignon blanc a year or so ago. Again, I was not a fan of the reds.
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Jeff Raymond runs Glen Manor Vineyard. I worked at a sorting table with him a few years ago, very nice guy. I haven't tried his wines yet, but the Sauvignon Blanc has won some VA awards.

We have some of Jim's 05 chards in the cellar, they still need a couple of years. His '99 was drinking nicely three or four years ago.
 
originally posted by David M. Bueker:
Horton has gone way downhill the last several years. Making about 35 wines per year has not helped.

I can enthusiastically second both Linden and Barboursville. I have not had Willowcroft in many years (but I liked their wines back then).
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You like Veritas, too, don't you? I haven't really given them a chance.
 
I had Schneider's "le Breton" a few years ago and agree, it was one of the less vanilla-heavy wines from LI.

Also, I think the prices Alzero fetches are silly. I see the '98 listed somewhere for the same price as the 1945 Le Haut Lieu at Chambers. I've not had the '45, but I can't imagined there's any way those wines could ever provide a comparable experience for the money. Even if Alzero is made from a single "variety" (which is up for debate).
 
originally posted by Keith Levenberg:


There is always Cheval-Blanc and Lafleur...
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try chateau haut segottes. very attractively priced, the vineyards are 300 meters from cheval blanc and the wine is delicious, old school stuff.
 
originally posted by Lyle Fass:
Did not even read your post before I posted. I was 2 for 4.
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That's really funny.

The lowdown on Schneider is: negociant from 1997 - 2003, inclusive; estate wine through the 2007 vintage; now closed. The reason I'm conversant on Schneider is that he gifted the cellar with a case or two of 375s of the 2004 and, if you're a good boy, Tom opens one when you're around....

The Horton I liked was 1995.
 
originally posted by Jonathan Loesberg:
I have never enjoyed VA red wines, though I do like some of the whites. The Linden Cab Franc is OK, but won't remind anyone of any Cab Franc from France or from anywhere else. Like other reds, with exceptions, it has an odd foxy quality to it. I' probably plump for a spoofed CA Cab Franc first.

I second the vote for Quintarelli, but only if you're a hedge fund manager.
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Or FX speculator.
 
Stonyridge on Waiheke Island makes a fine one, but I don't think it's sold outside the winery, and in any case it's only the second fruit from what doesn't make the Larose blend.

Does Crocker & Starr still exist, and are they still making drinkable cabernet franc in California?
 
FWIW, a small story . . .

Two years ago, I went over to Napa Wine Co. to help with a sort of fruit for Showket Vineyards. Russell Bevan, the winemaker, got me aside and, before the fruit got there, we went back and tasted a cabernet franc he had made from the vines on Showket's property (above Oakville). This wine had been rasied in stainless and was destined to be a blend wine for the top bottlings from that estate.
I understand that the cab. franc vines on this property are some of the oldest in Napa, having gone into Dalla Valle's, Maya bottling in the past.
When I tasted the wine it was a knock-off for fine Chinon - the same herbaceousness but in that restrained and "I'm just a piece of the puzzle" balance; truly sensational cab. franc character and the most precise yet integrated flavor profile I ever had in a cab. franc based wine.
As we were tasting, Cal Showket arrived and I told him I would buy the entire lot from him if he'd sell it to me. He declined, giving his confidence to Russell's ability to blend for his style.

I have never had a cab. franc based wine impress me that much, regardless of origin.
I truly believe, there are spots in CA where grapes grow that can make wine that would stretch one's mind and touch one's soul.
I have tasted at least one of them.
Best, Jim
 
Can't resist. The '09 Bebam I made with Don Heistuman, which is 95% Cab Franc, and the rest Gamay, is too good to leave out of this conversation. But you won't know that till Don releases the wine, whenever he does. When he does, it will make your hearts glad.
 
Get really exotic - there's one, and only one, 100% cabernet franc made in Spain - Augustus Cab Franc, from the coastal fringe, right on the Mediterranean, of the Peneds DO in Catalonia. Pretty good actually.
 
Has anyone tried these Virginia wines/wineries in the very recent past?

There are a lot of recommendations that, frankly, surprise me coming from the "no spoof" crowd out there.
 
Horton started going downhill 10 years ago. David's complaint that they make too many wines seemed less the issue with me (they were always experimenting) then that they went seriously mass production.

Nicolas, I've tried the VA wines I've mentioned. I know that Linden's Chard was a poster child for overoaked and maloed for sometime. Even in those years, they became better after 10 years in the bottle. Glen Manor reds are quite processed, less so the whites I think. What others are you talking about?
 
Jonathan - they make quite a lot of each of those "experimental" wines, so my concern and yours really go hand in hand.

I try some Virginia wines every year, since my folks live there. Quality is still variable (the climate is not ideal after all), but on the whole is rising IMO.
 
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