What do you folks think of Cabernet Franc, as a varietal for drinking
rather than blending? What do you like to eat with it? It's kind of
hard to find, but I like it when I do.

Jose
--
Money: what you need when you run out of brains.
for Email, make the obvious change in the address.

Jose wrote:
What do you folks think of Cabernet Franc, as a varietal for drinking
rather than blending? What do you like to eat with it? It's kind of
hard to find, but I like it when I do.

I will never forget an early pure(or nearly pure) Cabernet Franc from
California. It was the Mount Veeder Winery Cabernet Franc 1977. Even at
10 years old it still was nearly of the color of india ink, and it was
one of the most tannic wines I have ever seen. It had some decent
fruit, but it was difficult to find it in the very heavy tannin. It
might have been good in a small amount in a Cabernet Sauvignon based
blend, but as a pure wine it was far too extreme for me.

Mike Tommasi wrote in
:

Jose wrote:
What do you folks think of Cabernet Franc, as a varietal for drinking
rather than blending? What do you like to eat with it? It's kind of
hard to find, but I like it when I do.

You are most likely to find CF in its pure state in the Veneto region
of Italy, where it may be just labelled Cabernet. Rarely hits high
peaks, but this has nothing to do with the grape variety itself.
Otherwise it would not be blended into some of the world's best wines
;-)

You will find the highest % of CF in St Emilion.



Mike, What about the wines of the Touraine? Chinon, Bourgeuil etc? Most
or all Cab France and I find excellent with magret du canard.

--
Joseph Coulter
Cruises and Vacations
http://www.josephcoulter.com/

On 4 Nov 2005 01:05:17 -0800, "
wrote:


I will never forget an early pure(or nearly pure) Cabernet Franc from
California. It was the Mount Veeder Winery Cabernet Franc 1977. Even at
10 years old it still was nearly of the color of india ink, and it was
one of the most tannic wines I have ever seen. It had some decent
fruit, but it was difficult to find it in the very heavy tannin. It
might have been good in a small amount in a Cabernet Sauvignon based
blend, but as a pure wine it was far too extreme for me.

Do you judge all cab franc by a single 25 year old wine durnk over 15
years ago?

Took a long time for CA to get the grass out of the cab franc.

And I recall the Zins from the early 70's. very bitter. an attempt
to do zin in the bordeau style.

Grunlach Bunc(sp) has made some beautiful cab francs. fairly light by
cab standards

On Fri, 04 Nov 2005 06:01:04 GMT, Jose wrote:
| What do you folks think of Cabernet Franc, as a varietal for drinking
| rather than blending? What do you like to eat with it? It's kind of
| hard to find, but I like it when I do.

my palate isn't fine tuned when i comes to CF, but my fave is from Horton
Vineyard in Orange, VA. very tasty.

On Fri, 04 Nov 2005 06:09:07 -0600
jcoulter wrote:

] Mike Tommasi wrote in
] :
]
] Jose wrote:
] What do you folks think of Cabernet Franc, as a varietal for drinking
] rather than blending? What do you like to eat with it? It's kind of
] hard to find, but I like it when I do.
]
] You are most likely to find CF in its pure state in the Veneto region
] of Italy, where it may be just labelled Cabernet. Rarely hits high
] peaks, but this has nothing to do with the grape variety itself.
] Otherwise it would not be blended into some of the world's best wines
] ;-)
]
] You will find the highest % of CF in St Emilion.
]
]
]
] Mike, What about the wines of the Touraine? Chinon, Bourgeuil etc? Most
] or all Cab France and I find excellent with magret du canard.
]

Joseph,

Was about to make that point. And also plenty from Anjou-Saumur.

Drank a Spelty Chinon (99 clos de Neuilly) last weekend that was a
real brooding monster, deep fruity back palate but still young and
tannic. It followed a Cotes de Blaye that to my palate also had
a very high percentage of CF.

As for what foods, wines from the Loire flatter a wide variety.
We find ourselves turning more and more to them.

Did you get my mail a few weeks ago, BTW?

-E
--
Emery Davis
You can reply to ecom
by removing the well known companies

Mike Tommasi wrote in news:3t0ic9Fp0iquU1
@individual.net:

You will find the highest % of CF in St Emilion.

Oh, Mike, I did not expect that from you ;-)

While wandering along the Angevine area last week I was able to taste
several 100% CF wines. I specially enjoyed a Domaine Ogereau Anjou Rouge
2004 which had the sweetest tannins I have ever had in a wine (any
wine).What a silky sensation in the mouth. And that is so scarce with the
Loire Reds...

By the way, I managed to visit Mark Angeli at La Ferme de la Sansonniere
and he is making a rouge but not with Cabernet Franc, but with Cabernet
Sauvignon. In his opinion, Cabernet Franc is the right choice for the
Chinon and easter zones of the Loire, but not for the Anjou A.O.C. I tried
the 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon and... ummm, well, it was so tannic that my
teeth are still aching. His chenins, however, are beautiful as we could
discover (Les Fouchardes 2000 was more than great) while having a great
lunch at Les Tonnelles in Behouard.

Saumur, Saumur-Champigny, Chinon and Bourgueil are french AOCs that use
100% CF for the rouges (sometimes as the main part of a blend too).

Best,

S.

In message
Mike Tommasi wrote:

Jose wrote:
What do you folks think of Cabernet Franc, as a varietal for drinking
rather than blending? What do you like to eat with it? It's kind of
hard to find, but I like it when I do.

You are most likely to find CF in its pure state in the Veneto region of
Italy, where it may be just labelled Cabernet. Rarely hits high peaks,
but this has nothing to do with the grape variety itself. Otherwise it
would not be blended into some of the world's best wines ;-)

You will find the highest % of CF in St Emilion.


Or perhaps more accurately, in my view,the best use of it, but never
as a single varietal without blending, which was what Jose was asking
about. Did Homer nod?? Bouchet is, again in my opinion, best used
when blended in Saint-Emilion with Merlot and a little Cabernet
Sauvignon and/or perhaps Côt. Fortunately we all like differnt things
and thr earethos who tell me the CF when use don its own on the Loire
is wonderful. the fact that I have yet to be persuaded is neither here
nor there - and it halp[s to keep the price of the things I like less
unreasonable if there are fewer people clamouring for them and
preferring others - vive la difference et le choix!


Timothy Hartley

Jose wrote:
What do you folks think of Cabernet Franc, as a varietal for drinking
rather than blending? What do you like to eat with it? It's kind of
hard to find, but I like it when I do.

Jose
--
Money: what you need when you run out of brains.
for Email, make the obvious change in the address.

I have tried a few, Jose. I had one from Calif which resembled Cab
Sauvignon (Daniel Gehrs, IIRC). I also had a few local makes (Penna.)
which I really liked - they were more subtle. Cab Franc as a varietal
is fine with me (never had a bad one) but it might not be everyone's
cup of tea.

Dan-O

gerald wrote:

Do you judge all cab franc by a single 25 year old wine durnk over 15
years ago?

Where did you get this idea. I wrote nothing of the sort. Of course
much of the best Cabernet Franc (and plenty of very common stuff) has
long come from the Loire in France, but it usually is named for a
subregion and often an individual vineyard for the best examples. Tons
of poor Cabernet Franc under various names, often nearly a rose,
imported into the US in the early days gave this grape a bad name. More
recently a few really outstanding Loire examples can be found here. For
example Clos de la Dioterie (from Chinon in the Loire) SCEA Charles
Joynet 1990 was an outstanding example and has aged very well. There
are several other top producers.


Took a long time for CA to get the grass out of the cab franc.

And I recall the Zins from the early 70's. very bitter. an attempt
to do zin in the bordeau style.

Grunlach Bunc(sp) has made some beautiful cab francs. fairly light by
cab standards

Yes there were vegetable tastes in many white and red wines in the 70s.
Because of urban sprawl and the need to expand vineyards, many planted
vineyards in new regions. Some regions were not suited for some grapes,
and the way the vines were pruned and trained often had to be changed.
Excessive leaves sometimes had to be removed. I can recall many reviews
of wines from new regions in that era that mentioned asparagus, weeds,
etc in describing the taste and smell of the wines. Of course the best
growers in the 70s already had a long track record of making
outstanding wine. For example, Ridge usually made a top Monte Bello CS,
and they made many top Zinfandels from various regions. Many of these
wines still are drinking well. BV has had ups and downs, but they made
many top Private Reserve CSs in the 50s and 60s, and some of these
still are drinking well.

Tons
of poor Cabernet Franc under various names, often nearly a rose,
imported into the US in the early days gave this grape a bad name.

What does "often nearly a rose" mean in this context?

Jose
--
Money: what you need when you run out of brains.
for Email, make the obvious change in the address.

Jose wrote in news:lmOaf.9528$Lv.2211
@newssvr24.news.prodigy.net:

Tons
of poor Cabernet Franc under various names, often nearly a rose,
imported into the US in the early days gave this grape a bad name.

What does "often nearly a rose" mean in this context?

Jose

He probably meant most often or nearly always

--
Joseph Coulter
Cruises and Vacations
http://www.josephcoulter.com/

Jose wrote:
Tons
of poor Cabernet Franc under various names, often nearly a rose,
imported into the US in the early days gave this grape a bad name.


What does "often nearly a rose" mean in this context?

Jose

It means a red wine so dilute and light in color as almost to appear as
a rosé, José. ;-)

Mark Lipton

It means a red wine so dilute and light in color as almost to appear as a rosé, José. ;-)

Touché

José
--
Money: what you need when you run out of brains.
for Email, make the obvious change in the address.

A number of CF dominant wines have been appearing down under
recently. Two that I am familiar with a

Redgate (Western Australia). I have a memory of been told this vinery
specialise in this variety. At a recent WA wines tasting the 1999 redgate
was
the popular choice as best wine.

Clearview estate (Hawke Bay NZ) produce a CF in some vintages (usually
the warmer years). The 1998 is very memorable. (I must drag one out of
the cellar and revisit it soon)
Sorry no TN on these wines at hand.

As to a generalisation, I find CF wines to be soft (ie not esp. tannic),
warming,
and very black/red fruity. IMHO they require a few years in bottle so show
their best. (But, I'd say that about most red wine) That allows the
excessive fruit
to calm somewhat.

cheers


Jose wrote:
What do you folks think of Cabernet Franc, as a varietal for drinking
rather than blending? What do you like to eat with it? It's kind of
hard to find, but I like it when I do.