Posts Tagged“cabernet franc”

Keuka Spring Vineyards 2014 Cabernet Franc

On my last visit to the Finger Lakes, I got to spend some time with the Keuka Spring Vineyards winemaking team. As I tasted with head winemaker August Deimel and assistant winemaker Rachel Hadley, I realized something pretty unique: though they are using oak barrels of various age and in varying percentages in their rose and Gewurztraminer programs, oak barrels have been completely eliminated from the red wine program for the 2015 vintage — and for the foreseeable future. Now, this is primarily a white wine house anyway, but it’s a bold shift to remove oak from the reds program…

New York Cork Club: May 2016 Selections

With summer just around the corner — despite the cool, grey weather blanketing most of the northeast right now — I wanted to pick some wines this month that are well suited to warmer weather occasions and foods. I think I’ve done that with these wines even if they don’t offer the same sense of discovery as some other picks have. These aren’t obscure producers or grapes or wines that you haven’t seen before. Instead, I’ve chosen two delicious wines from two of my favorite producers — one in the Finger Lakes and one on Long Island. My first pick is…

Keuka Lake Vineyards NV KLV Red

Need another reminder that generalizations can be dangerous in the wine world? Look no further than Keuka Lake Vineyards NV KLV Red ($16). Many will look at a wine like this one — without a vintage year on the label — and look elsewhere for something to drink. I get it, often non-vintage wines end up being whatever is left over and the wines aren’t very good. But you know what they say happens when you assume. This is a blend that is mostly cabernet franc, with Leon Millot, pinot noir and a “splash” of Delaware rounding out the blend. It’s…

Macari Vineyards 2013 Reserve Cabernet Franc

“Reserve” is a term without an official meaning in the American wine industry. It can be used by anyone on any wine. Some wineries only have a “Reserve” line — which means it’s more about marketing than anything else. They’d never admit it, but I’m convinced that some producers even put “Reserve” on a bottle just so they can charge more for it. For a while, here on Long Island, “Reserve” has meant bigger, riper and oakier. Sometimes wineries boast about long a “Reserve” wine is aged in oak barrels on the back label — as if that’s a sign…

New York Cork Club: April 2016 Selections

Editor’s Note: Okay, so I’m a little late posting this. Most of you have already received your shipments, but here is a bit about my April 2016 selections. I’m really excited about this month’s picks – one Finger Lakes riesling and a sparkling cabernet franc from Long Island. Yes, you read that right – sparkling cabernet franc. Macari Vineyards 2014 “Horses” Sparkling Rose Cabernet Franc is a sparkling cabernet franc that they may so little of that it’s not even on the winery’s website. Luckily, we were able to get a few cases for the club and I think you’re…

New York Cork Club February 2016 Selections

Without writing a long essay about what it actually costs to grow grapes and eventually make a bottle of wine that can be sold – many of the things that go into wine are very expensive, and in New York, they are even more expensive on Long Island. Land and labor are the big ones. Why do I bring this up? Well, this month’s selections are both from Long Island, a rarity given the constraints (<$50 plus shipping for two bottles) of this club. It may never happen again, but considering that I live just a short drive from Long…

From the Archives: What We Learned From 656 Glasses of Cabernet Franc

Photo by Morgan Dawson Editor’s Note: Every Thursday — call it Throwback Thursday if you’d like — we’ll pull a story from the more than a decade of NYCR stories and republish it. This week, I pulled a 2009 story by managing editor Evan Dawson from about a cabernet franc tasting at the New York Wine & Culinary Center.    When the demonstration room at the New York Wine & Culinary Center filled up at 10 a.m. on Tuesday morning, 328 glasses of cabernet franc lit up the amphitheater like strands of single-color Christmas lights. It was a bit daunting for the 42 winemakers, winegrowers,…

Shinn Estate Vineyards 2014 “Mojo” Cabernet Franc

I don’t want to jinx it, but it seems like Long Island winemakers have largely moved beyond the days of treating cabernet franc like cabernet sauvignon. Most winemakers really scaled back the amount of new oak they are using and are allowing cabernet franc be cabernet franc. They aren’t trying to beat all of the “green” out of the variety as often and as a result very few wood-and-chocolate-and-vanilla-dominated cabernet francs have crossed my tasting table over the past year. A handful of wineries put out unoaked versions now, and Shinn Estate Vineyards — long growers and makers of some of the best local…

Billsboro Winery 2012 Cabernet Franc

Billsboro Winery 2012 Cabernet Franc ($25) is ripe and fruit-forward on the nose with cherry and plum aromas that stay this side of jammy and accents of tobacco, baking spice and dried herbs. The first sip is a bit disjointed and almost comes across as hot (an indicator of higher alcohol that isn’t balanced) but with some air that fades and this medium-bodied, ripe-but-not-too-ripe red settles in with red and black fruit notes that are tinged by toasty vanilla oak-born spice and a bit of brown sugar. Structure is provided by juicy acidity rather than the tannins, which are soft and rounded. On…

Roanoke Vineyards 2012 Gabby’s Cabernet Franc

Roanoke Vineyards 2012 Gabby’s Cabernet Franc ($43) shows the ripeness of the vintage, but is a standout for its elegant intensity and early complexity. A blend of cab franc grown in a part of Roanoke’s estate vineyard known as “Gabby’s rows” because Pisacano family patriarch Gabby Pisacano manages them along with 17% merlot and 1% petit verdot, it offers a spicy and slightly herbal – in a good way – nose with layers of sweet black cherry and blackberry with subtle but distinct minty-licorice notes and high-toned floral aromas. Pretty and fresh on the medium-bodied palate, mixed berries lead the way…