WTN - 20 Cab Francs in NiagaraCool blind tasting

[Robin Garr]

I'd like to add my own thanks and gratitude to Howie as the prime mover and chief cook and bottle washer of NiagaraCool, to Ed for his hard work arranging and leading the tour (that I didn't get to go on), and to everyone involved. I had the usual great time and really enjoyed meeting both old friends and new at the Sunday picnic.

A highlight, of course, was the tasting of 20 brown-bagged Cabernet Francs contributed by many of the participants. I love the concept of an extended blind tasting, although I'm not sure a sociable, outdoor picnic setting is the most analytical place to do it. No matter, it was still huge fun, and thanks to Ed for setting it up and Howie for, I believe, coming up with the idea.

I raced down the line of bagged bottles and enjoyed the variety, but sought to take only the sketchiest of notes. It didn't surprise me, being a wannabe Loire-head, that I tended to prefer the Chinons, although I did pick one Virginia wine among my favorites (marked with a single "<b>*</b>"), and one Canadian wine among my top picks (marked with a double "<b>**</b>"). Go figure. I was fairly casual about jotting down the particulars from John Fiola's reading and quick picks at the labels, and apologize in advance for any bad spellings or omissions. If you spot any, please let me know and I'll edit.

<b>NiagaraCool Cabernet Franc Blind Tasting</b>

<table border="0" align="right" width="410"><tr><td><img src="http://www.wineloverspage.com/graphics1/cabfranc.jpg" border="1" align="right"></td></tr><tr><td>The first 17 Cabernet Francs, bagged and ready for tasting.</td></tr></table>1. <b>*</b> <B>Barboursville Vineyards 2004 Virginia Cabernet Franc Reserve</B> - Earthy, lean, tart, peppery.

2. <B>Lake Anna 2004 Virginia Cabernet Franc</B> - Light color. Strawberry, white pepper.

3. <B>Anthony Road 2005 Finger Lakes Cabernet Franc-Lemberger</B> - Green, herbaceous, acidic.

4. <B>Raylen 2004 North Carolina Cabernet Franc</B> - Vegetal, black-olive. Soft at first, tart in the finish.

5. <b>*</b> <B>Bernard Baudry 2005 Chinon "Les Granges"</B> - Spicy, red-meat nuances. Quite tannic, seems a bit short, maybe a Chinon that needs time?

6. <B>Sheldrake Point 2004 Finger Lakes Cabernet Franc</B> - Ruby with a glint of bronze. Red-berry fruit, a bit nutlike. Oxidizing?

7. <B>Clos de la Lysardière 2004 Chinon</B> - Fragrant black pepper; smooth, a bit short. This was my contribution to the list, a relative rarity picked up from Chambers Street in the mid-teens price range I believe.

8. <b>*</b> <B>Breton 2002 Bourgueil "Les Galichets"</B> - Light red fruit, a hint of barnyard, nicely balanced.

9. <b>**</b> <B>J.-M. Raffault 2005 Chinon "Les Galuches"</B> - Grapey, white pepper aromas; peppery and good red-fruit flavors, nice. One of my top picks of the flight.

10. <B>Cilento 1999 Niagara Peninsula Ontario Cabernet Franc</B> - Light in color. Reduced, dank. Aeration helps a bit, revealing peppery red fruit.

11. <b>*</b> <B>Vineland 2005 Niagara Peninsula Ontario Cabernet Franc</B> - Closed at first but opens up to juicy cherry-berry fruit and substantial tannins.

12. <B>Hermann J. Weimer 2005 Finger Lakes Cabernet Franc</B> - Light color. Fragrant, floral, not typical of the variety. Tart cranberry jelly flavor.

13. <b>*</b> <B>La Croix Boissée 1996 Chinon</B> - Distinct barnyard behind good red fruit, acids and smooth tannins. Very good.

14. <B>Hart's Wine Cellars 2005 Cabernet Franc</B> - A whiff of sulfur, then jammy red fruit, soft but sippable. I had no idea one of Howie's home wines was in the flight, and this one certainly could have passed for a well-made commercial wine.

15. <B>Windham Way 2004 Virginia Cabernet Franc</B> - Fruit-forward, red fruit, soft at first with tart acidity appearing in mid-palate.

16. <B>Niagara Landing Lake Erie Cabernet Franc</B> - Very light, not much darker than a rosé. Bubble gum aromas and flavors, my least favorite wine of the flight.

17. <b>*</b> <B>Domaine du Grand Breviande Chinon </B> - Light ruby color. White and black pepper, complex. Good fruit laced with fragrant pepper, crisp and tart. I like.

18. <b>**</b> <B>Joguet Clos de la Diotiere 1986 Chinon</B> - Although this was blind as to the producer, I overheard that it was a 21-year-old Chinon, an intriguing factoid that certainly made it difficult to evaluate objectively. That said, it seemed a beauty, ruby with glints of bronze, red fruit and pepper and lean, mouth-watering acidity. Mature but youthful, hard to believe it has that many years on it.

19. <B>Joguet Clos de la Diotiere 1996 Chinon</B> - Again I knew this was an older Loire but not whose. Rather light in color with bronze glints. Tart, rather youthful red fruit, but it didn't ring my chimes like the 1986.

20. <B>Clos Rugeard 1999 Chinon</B> - Again non-blind as to the appellation and vintage; very light in color, herbal red berries, tart and lean. Not the most persuasive Chinon, and I believe not an exceptional vintage.

Nice notes, Robin. Having not participated in the blind part of the tasting, I was curious to read your and Howie's notes.

I am a fan of the Rougeard (#2), but 1999 produced less than a convincing result. Glad you enjoyed the '86 Joguet - I save these for interesting occasions.

That is one heck of a lineup gentlemen!! Wish I could have been there, I would have opened the Sandhill (BC). Aaagh well!!

Good notes, as usual, Robin. I'm glad somebody got the names. I could not identify wines by area during the tasting and in all the ones I liked there were more similarities than differences.

[Robin Garr]

Good notes, as usual, Robin. I'm glad somebody got the names. I could not identify wines by area during the tasting and in all the ones I liked there were more similarities than differences.

Howie, that's well-said, and an important point. While wine geeks may have fun picking apart the subtle differences among wines, it would be equally as fair to write, "These were all Chenin Blancs, and just about all of them were essentially similar."

That showed real confidence to throw your wine in with 19 commercial Cab Francs, but there's no more striking way to test your wine-making skills in the real world. I didn't keep a detailed ranking - just marked the ones that most rang my chimes with asterisks - but yours was certainly fairly in the middle of the pack, and considering you were competing against some big-name Chinons and excellent vintages, that's something to be proud of.

Breton 200s Bourgueil "Les Galichets"

Do you remember the vintage on this?

La Croix Boissée 1996 Chinon Distinct barnyard behind good red fruit, acids and smooth tannins. Very good.

Nice wine huh. My memory is that it has great fruit although last year the whipcord acid spine was still too fierce for me (perhaps similar to the evolution of 96 red Burgundies) but it sounds like this is drinking well now?

[Robin Garr]

Do you remember the vintage on this?

Oops, typo on the Bréton. I had it in my written notes and have edited the original: 2002.

Nice wine huh. My memory is that it has great fruit although last year the whipcord acid spine was still too fierce for me (perhaps similar to the evolution of 96 red Burgundies) but it sounds like this is drinking well now?

The '96 La Croix Boissée was a very nice wine indeed. With the caveat that this was a casual, picnic setting and a very fast tasting, so I was reporting impressions more than analytical details, it was certainly one of my favorites of the flight. Since I did pick up excess/imbalanced acidity in a couple, I don't think I would have missed it here. Still, it'll be interesting to see what others found in it.

[Robin Garr]

Nice notes, Robin. Having not participated in the blind part of the tasting, I was curious to read your and Howie's notes.

I am a fan of the Rougeard (#2), but 1999 produced less than a convincing result. Glad you enjoyed the '86 Joguet - I save these for interesting occasions.

Mark, it was good to meet you and chat a bit. Thanks for bringing all three wines ... none were shabby, even the '99, and the '86 was certainly one of the highlights of my weekend.

Robin and Howie,

Thanks for posting on this. That really is a fascinating line up of Cab Franc from all over the world. Maybe the good ones seemed to have more similarities as most of the wines came from cooler growing regions like Loire, Ontario, etc. Although you did have some from Virgina and N Carolina, where it gets pretty hot. I wonder how a California or WA state CF would have shown in the line up? Very interesting, many thanks.

Marc

I've written up notes on the wines I liked best, along with a couple of notes on wines I thought interesting or deserving of comment. The notes on the wines Mark Criden brought are included separately because they weren't quite as "blind" as the other wines.

The following were in the top group for me (numbers correspond to the tasting order):

1. Barboursville 2004 Virginia Cabernet Franc Reserve: Slightly earthy with cherry fruit. Tastes young, slightly tannic on the palate, but nice Cab Franc character. Moderately long finish. The speculation at the start of the tasting was that this was French, although on retasting the fruit had opened up more, and it seemed more like a domestic wine.

I've had Barboursville Cab Franc before, and liked it very much. This sample reinforced that favorable opinion.

#9 J. M. Raffault 2005 Chinon "Les Galuches": At the very first, this had a chemical note on the nose, but that quickly resolved into a very nice smokey, olive scent. The flavors followed the nose. Fairly tannic, with a long finish.

#13 Bernard Baudry 1996 Chinon "La Croix Boissée": I put this into the tasting, and was pretty sure about its identity. The color showed some bricking, there was a slight volatility on the nose. Still ssomewhat tannic on the palate, though the overall impression is a nicely resolved, older Cab Franc.

This is one of the 1996 Chinons that have been the subject of argument on various web sites about whether they are ready to drink yet. I thought this bottle showed well, though I will hold my remaining bottles for a at least a couple years more. I should note that this came from my passive storage, which ranges between the low 60's and the low 70's, and may be more advanced as a result.

I also liked the following wines, which I would put in a slightly lower tier:

#5 Bernard Baudry 2005 Chinon: Nice earthy, gravelly notes on the nose. Very, very young on the palate, intensely tannic. It would be intersting to try this again in five years (or maybe more).

#7 Clos de la Lysardière 2004 Chinon: Some nice gravel and Cab Franc leafiness on the nose. Good though slightly laid back flavors, nice medium weight. Tannins become apparent on the medium-to-long finish.

#8 Breton 2002 Bourgueil "Les Galichets": Slightly bretty? Showing a slight orange tint. Fruit sweetness and slight tannin on the palate, long finish in which the tannin shows more. Very nice wine.

#17 Domaine du Grand Breviande Chinon: Smells young, fruity. Fruit sweetness on the palate, a slight bitterness detracts a little. Long finish.

Mark Criden brought in three Loire wines after the tasting was well underway:

#18 Joguet Clos de la Diotiere 1986 Chinon: Mark said that one of his bottles was probably the oldest wine in the tasting, and this was clearly it. Slight volatility, nice earthy notes on the nose. Still showing fruit on the palate along with a lovely acidity. This was clearly in my top group.

#19 Joguet Clos de la Diotiere 1996 Chinon: I was impressed that one of the Bufallo contingent identified this as a younger vintage of wine #18. Once it was pointed out to me, I could see the similarity, though this wine was more tannic, and had a slight horsey note to it. It did have the same nice acid structure. I would have put this in my second level.

I didn't make a note on the last wine, #20 Foucault/Clos Rougeard 1999 Saumur-Champigny. I've never tried a Clos Rougeard wine before. Given the reputation of the producer, I suspect that this was a victim of the vintage.

Finally, some miscellaneous comments on a few other wines:

#3 Anthony Road 2005 Finger Lakes Cabernet Franc-Lemberger: Threw this into the tasting as a ringer. It was obviously different from the other wines, showing a tar note on the nose and palate that I've noticed in Finger Lakes Lemberger before. Somewhat tannic on the palate, with some red fruit in addition to the tar notes. Slightly bitter on the finish.

#4 Raylen 2004 North Carolina Cabernet Franc: Wow, this really smelled like beets. I've gotten beet smells and flavors in other wines, but it was much more intense in this wine. Others noted dill or olives.

The following wines almost made the second group, but just fell a little short:

#11 Vineland 2005 Niagara Peninsula Ontario Cabernet Franc: When I first smelled this, it had some caramel/char on the nose. Good fruit on the palate. When I retasted it, the nose had improved some, but this never quite took off for me.

#15 Windham Way 2004 Virginia Cabernet Franc: The nose had a nice leafiness with an underlay of cherry fruit. The palate was pleasant, the finish was long, but it lacked intensity and excitement.