Winemaker Notes
Reminiscent of a top wine from the right bank of Bordeaux, this wine exhibits incredible concentration and depth accompanied by minerality that is expressed through crushed stones on the palate. On the nose, the wine explodes with flavors of crushed black cherry, violets, cigar box, incense and cedar notes. While powerful and rich, it remains balanced with elegance that is never compromised. The tannins are silky and velvety with an underlining structure that is present but not overpowering. The wine retains incredible freshness and finishes very long.
Professional Ratings
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Tasting Panel
This inky black-purple liquid is perfumed with chocolate-wrapped violets and a hint of anise. A sheath of satin tannins and licorice envelops blooming purple flowers. The sensual texture of melted dark chocolate and blueberry jam remains for an extended period of time, triggering an ongoing mouthwatering sensation.
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Jeb Dunnuck
Along the same lines, the 2019 Patrimony Cabernet Franc (100% Cabernet Franc aging in new French oak) is slightly more California in style with a Napa-like sexiness and opulence. Stunning blackberries, dried flowers, incense, dried tobacco, and cedary notes all soar from the glass, and it's a powerful, super-rich barrel sample that still stays balanced and even elegant. It ranks with some of the finest examples of this variety in California.
Range: 97-99 -
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2019 Cabernet Franc is made from free-run juice and matured for 30 months in 100% new French oak. Deep ruby in color, it opens with savory tones of roasted peppers, chargrill, graphite and iodine over a core of lush blackcurrant. The full-bodied palate is supple and seamless with a velvety texture, notably refreshing acidity, pure, layered fruit and a long finish with alluring spicy accents.
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Decanter
Inky and dark purple in colour. An unabashed 100% Cabernet Franc showcasing the varietal marker of graphite, plus notes of black fruit, cigar box and cedar. Good fruit concentration on the palate, plus tannins which display a slight chalky character. Velvety, smooth and warming. The perfect fireplace wine to enjoy with a rich, hearty meal.
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James Suckling
Classy cabernet franc freshness with great varietal characters here, showing fresh leaves, undergrowth, green olives, cigar box, chili chocolate. Rich and full-bodied but still quite juicy, and not heavy at all. Firm, really sleek and silky with a long, lasting finish showing a hint of vanilla in the finish.
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.
Paso Robles has made a name for itself as a source of supple, powerful, fruit-driven Central Coast wines. But with eleven smaller sub-AVAs, there is actually quite a bit of diversity to be found in this inland portion of California’s Central Coast.
Just east over the Santa Lucia Mountains from the chilly Pacific Ocean, lie the coolest in the region: Adelaida, Templeton Gap and (Paso Robles) Willow Creek Districts, as well as York Mountain AVA and Santa Margarita Ranch. These all experience more ocean fog, wind and precipitation compared to the rest of the Paso sub-appellations. The San Miguel, (Paso Robles) Estrella, (Paso Robles) Geneso, (Paso Robles) Highlands, El Pomar and Creston Districts, along with San Juan Creek, are the hotter, more western appellations of the greater Paso Robles AVA.
This is mostly red wine country, with Cabernet Sauvignon and Zinfandel standing out as the star performers. Other popular varieties include Merlot, Petite Sirah, Petit Verdot, Syrah, Grenache and Rhône blends, both red and white. There is a fairly uniform tendency here towards wines that are unapologetically bold and opulently fruit-driven, albeit with a surprising amount of acidity thanks to the region’s chilly nighttime temperatures.