Winemaker Notes
Blend: 100% Cabernet Franc
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Blackberries, blackcurrants and black licorice. Very aromatic. Full-bodied with chewy yet polished tannins and a long, flavorful finish. Needs time to open. Polished and refined. One for the cellar. A fantastic cabernet franc with tension and character. Try after 2024.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Deep garnet-purple colored, the 2019 Cabernet Franc Beckstoffer To Kalon leaps with kirsch, black raspberries and rose oil scents, plus hints of cinnamon stick, dried herbs and tilled soil, with a waft of pencil shavings. Full-bodied, plush and rich, the palate has loads of bright, crunchy red and black fruit flavors and a long, earth-laced finish.
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Jeb Dunnuck
The 2019 Cabernet Franc Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard showed beautifully, with a ripe, sweetly fruited, sexy style that might be too much for some. Blueberry pie, chocolate, candied violets, and floral notes all define the nose, and it’s full-bodied, with a wealth of fruit and texture, good balance, and a great finish. If you love impeccably made Napa fruit bombs, you’ll love this one.
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Wine Spectator
A lush style, with a gorgeous wave of boysenberry and blackberry compote notes rolling through, lined liberally with violet, anise and apple wood accents before ending with graphite and sweet tobacco. Approachable for its purity, but there's no rush. Drink now through 2034.
Wines, like people, are a reflection of their origin and evolution. The Debate are Napa Valley wines crafted by respected winemaker Jean Hoefliger (Lynch-Bages, Newton Vineyard, Alpha Omega, AXR, Harbison and many others). The Debate focuses on the unique terroirs of single vineyard sites for Cabernet Sauvignon & Cabernet Franc exclusively.
The Debate began in 2010 when two friends brought their unique perspectives together to create thought provoking and delicious wines that extend beyond the sense of taste to the thrill of telling stories and the art of listening. By selecting three different vineyards with three different expressions of Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc, the Debate seeks to point out the diversity of terroir as well as the diversity of people.
We live in an age where less and less time is spent at the dinner table discussing these different points of view. The Debate mission is to bring people together to share a glass of wine to discuss and debate just as our team does. Every vintage of The Debate is wrapped in newspaper with “The Debates” of the vintage. Whether its politics, sports, pop-culture or world events, you have the opportunity to reminisce a time, a place and a vintage in history with the people around you.
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.
Home to some of the most sought-after Cabernet Sauvignon in America, Napa Valley’s Oakville district stretches across the center of Napa's valley floor and foothills between the Vaca and Mayacamas Mountains. This AVA is home to the legendary To Kalon Vineyard and Martha's Vineyard, as well as many powerhouse wineries including Screaming Eagle, Silver Oak, Robert Mondavi, Opus One, Far Niente and Groth.
The climate is generally warm and agreeable, resulting in year after year of favorable vintages. Summer days see a gentle tug of war between warmer inland air and the cool air coming in from the San Pablo Bay, creating an ideal environment to grow red varieties. Oakville's diverse soils, namely ancient sea bedrock, clay and gravel, are well-drained, and perfect for high-caliber viticulture.
Cabernet here is often bottled varietally but is also popular in Bordeaux Blends. Oakville wines are known for their silky, sensual textures, structured tannins, dark and brooding fruit and lovely aromatics. These age-worthy and prestigious wines are favored by collectors throughout the world.