Winemaker Notes
The 2019 Cabernet Franc has a concentrated and inviting fruit-forward nose, with aromas of tart cranberry and dark cherry as sell as a subtle herbal note. The palate has a pleasing and balanced acidity, with darker fruit than the nose, followed by hints of cedar, baking spices and milk chocolate and smooth tannins on the finish.
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
Lots of pure cassis, redcurrants, spice box, and floral notes emerge from the 2019 Cabernet Franc, a pure, wonderfully balanced, medium to full-bodied wine that represents a great value. Coming from 100% Cabernet Franc from a handful of great sites and brought up in one-third each of new, once-used, and neutral barrels, it's well worth buying and will keep for 7-8 years, if not a decade.
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James Suckling
A lovely mix of dried herbs and ripe black and red berries on the nose. Full-bodied with fine, slightly chewy tannins. Tobacco, basil and pitted cherry. Well balanced and juicy.
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Wine Enthusiast
The aromas show notes of blue fruit, green pepper and cigar box, along with dried and fresh herbs. The fruit and herb flavors are saturated but still fresh.
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.
A large and geographically diverse AVA capable of producing a wide variety of wine styles, the Columbia Valley AVA is home to 99% of Washington state’s total vineyard area. A small section of the AVA even extends into northern Oregon!
Because of its size, it is necessarily divided into several distinctive sub-AVAs, including Walla Walla Valley and Yakima Valley—which are both further split into smaller, noteworthy appellations. A region this size will of course have varied microclimates, but on the whole it experiences extreme winters and long, hot, dry summers. Frost is a common risk during winter and spring. The towering Cascade mountain range creates a rain shadow, keeping the valley relatively rain-free throughout the entire year, necessitating irrigation from the Columbia River. The lack of humidity combined with sandy soils allows for vines to be grown on their own rootstock, as phylloxera is not a serious concern.
Red wines make up the majority of production in the Columbia Valley. Cabernet Sauvignon is the dominant variety here, where it produces wines with a pleasant balance of dark fruit and herbs. Wines made from Merlot are typically supple, with sweet red fruit and sometimes a hint of chocolate or mint. Syrah tends to be savory and Old-World-leaning, with a wide range of possible fruit flavors and plenty of spice. The most planted white varieties are Chardonnay and Riesling. These range in style from citrus and green apple dominant in cooler sites, to riper, fleshier wines with stone fruit flavors coming from the warmer vineyards.