It's amazing what you can find when you aren't looking. I went to the cellar to see if I had any syrah to puor with some rare roast beef, mashed potatoes and peas. I did, but it was all stuff that I was not willing to drink early. My eyes fell upon a cabernet franc from Virginia that I purcased during a tour of some vineyards in the summer of 2005. I had just rearanged my extremely modest collection in anticipation of an order from Calvert-Woodley that is meant to include some nice reds from the Loire Valley. I decided this was taking up needed pace.
The wine was Three Fox Vinyards 2002 Cabernet Franc. Apperently the fruit came from Barboursville which is an excellent vineyard outside of Charlottesville. This vinyard is in Northern Virginia. It has nice rasberry and blackberry notes with a lot of chocolate and mocha on the finish. There is also some spice I can't really identify. It's gotten a lot better over the last hour or so as it's been in the glass. I probably paid $18 - $20 for it in 2005. I would certainly buy it again at that price. It was great with the food. I can't wait for the Loire Valley reds to come in to compare them.[/b]