Winemaker Notes
The 2020 Cabernet Franc opens with supple black and blue fruits, followed by notes of fresh sage, tobacco leaf, and mineral undertones of graphite and granite. Its full-bodied palate is vivacious, with delicate tannins and fresh-balanced acidity. Its long-layered finish is rich in notes of tart cherry, plum, pomegranate and raspberry.
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
Ample black and blue fruits, tobacco leaf, iron, crushed stone, and graphite emerge from the 2020 Cabernet Franc, a rich, medium to full-bodied, beautifully textured Cabernet Franc that has plenty of overall freshness and purity, notable structure, and a great finish.
Barrel Sample: 95-97 -
James Suckling
Aromas of currants, plums, violets, chocolate orange, wet stones and sweet spices. Full-bodied with fine tannins. Well-balanced and layered with a velvety texture. Rich and creamy with an attractive core of berries at the center with a spicy chocolate touch to it. Harmonious with a generous and long, long finish with great vitality.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2020 Cabernet Franc was matured for 30 months in 100% new French oak. It has become more rustic since its bottling, its scents of red and black currants and plums streaked with woodsmoke and dried herbs character. The full-bodied palate is easygoing, with soft tannins, rounded acidity and a concentrated core of tobacco-laced fruit. It's showing the challenges of the vintage, so drink it over the next few years.
An ecological gem rising from the hills of the ascendant Adelaida District in California’s Paso Robles AVA, Patrimony Estate is blessed with exceptional terroir and the extraordinary conditions to create powerfully elegant wines that rival the world’s best Bordeaux producers.
Patrimony Estate is the creation of brothers Daniel and Georges Daou, proprietors of DAOU Vineyards & Winery. Hailing from Lebanon by way of Paris, France, Daniel and Georges moved to the United States as young men and soon achieved success in business. But that was just the beginning. They had a fearless goal—to produce wines that rival the best in the world, and to curate a lifestyle to match. From terroir to winemaking to architecture, they leave no detail unexplored. They have fulfilled that goal with Patrimony.
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.