Winemaker Notes
This 2020 Reserve Cabernet Franc is an elegant, rich, yet soft wine. With fleshy black cherry, blackberry, and spicy oak aromas. This wine can be enjoyed now or cellared for a special occasion. On the palate, there are succulent, dark fruit flavors of plum, black cherry, and a hint of sweet oak. It offers a smooth, medium finish. It is also vegan-friendly.
Serve at room temperature with grilled meats, lamb chops and strong cheeses. It is also an excellent choice for chocolate desserts such as a molten chocolate cake, bittersweet chocolate mousse, or a simple plate of homemade fudge.
Blend: 85% Cabernet Franc, 15% Cabernet Sauvignon
Professional Ratings
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Wine & Spirits
Dusty and mineral, with scents of licorice root, blackberry, horehound, violets and olive skin, this is concentrated and deeply flavored. It feels ample middle, then precise and firm on the finish, with fine tannins.
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Wine Enthusiast
Aromas and flavors suggest red cherry, red plum, wild strawberry, boysenberry, tarragon, basil, toasted wood and chocolate, with hints of leather, black pepper and crushed violets. Coarse, chalky tannins coat the mouth, but are well met by the concentrated fruit structure.
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
COMMENTARY: The 2020 Ironstone Reserve is lovely and generous on the palate. TASTING NOTES: This wine excels with attractive aromas and flavors of dried leaves, red fruits, and tart raspberries. Serve with roasted game birds. (Tasted: October 26, 2022, Napa, CA)
Cabernet Franc, a proud parent of Cabernet Sauvignon, is the subtler and more delicate of the Cabernets. Today Cabernet Franc produces outstanding single varietal wines across the wine-producing world. Somm Secret—One of California's best-kept secrets is the Happy Canyon appellation of Santa Barbara. Here Cabernet Franc shines as a single varietal wine or in blends, expressing sumptuous fruit, savory aromas and polished tannins.
Originally a source of oenological sustenance for gold-seeking miners of the mid-1800s, the Sierra Foothills was the first region in California to produce wines from European grape varieties. Located between Sacramento and the Nevada border, this area’s immigrant settlers chose to forgo growing the then-ubiquitous Mission grape and instead brought with them superior vines from the Old World to plant alongside mining camps.
Zinfandel has been the most important variety of this region since its inception, taking on a spicy character with brambly fruit and firm structure. Amador and El Dorado counties, benefiting from the presence of volcanic and granite soils, are home to the best examples. Bold, robust Rhône Blends and Barbera are also important regional specialties.