Wagner Vineyards Cabernet Franc 2016
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Robert
Parker
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2016 Cabernet Franc is all Cab Franc this year, aged for 12 months in used, mostly American oak. It comes in at 13% alcohol. It was sourced from 1993 vines—the first red grape planted by Wagner. This might put it all together for Wagner. Full-bodied, it coats the palate nicely, relative to Finger Lakes' reds, of course. The structure is a little less impressive, but this should still work well enough to develop nicely over the next several years. It should and needs to be more expressive, but this is quite a bargain even if it does not hold for as long and as well as I might hope. It's worth leaning up for the moment. It's another super bargain from a winery that delivers them effortlessly.
Other Vintages
2012-
Robert
Parker
Wagner is one of the Finger Lakes Region’s few estate wineries, which means that we grow all of the grapes used to produce our wine. We cultivate 20 grape varieties on 250 acres, all adjacent to or within a few miles of the winery.
The winery's prime location on the eastern shore of Seneca Lake contributes to the superior quality of the grapes. The unique combination of deep water (parts of Seneca Lake are over 600 feet deep) and sloping hillside provides a natural temperature moderator, protecting the vines against extreme temperature changes.
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.
Increasingly garnering widespread and well-deserved attention, New York ranks third in wine production in the United States (after California and Washington). Divided into six AVAs—the Finger Lakes, Lake Erie, Hudson River, Long Island, Champlain Valley of New York and the Niagara Escarpment, which crosses over into Michigan as well as Ontario, Canada—the state experiences varied climates, but in general summers are warm and humid while winters are very cold and can carry the risk of frost well into the growing season.
The Finger Lakes region has long been responsible for some of the country’s finest Riesling, and is gaining traction with elegant, light-bodied Pinot Noir and Cabernet Franc. Experimentation with cold-hardy European varieties is common, and recent years have seen the successful planting of grapes like Grüner Veltliner and Saperavi (from the Eastern European country of Georgia). Long Island, on the other hand, has a more maritime climate influenced by the Atlantic Ocean, and shares some viticultural characteristics with Bordeaux. Accordingly, the best wines here are made from Merlot and Cabernet Franc. The Niagara Escarpment is responsible for excellent ice wines, usually made from the hybrid variety, Vidal.