Synchronicity

Hey all,

My friend Allison Vidug, who I've mentioned before, has also been taking the WSET course, just in a different place.  We've been writing about a lot of the same things!  Here's her fantastic Riesling article to enjoy.

She also covered The Other King, a free industry Cabernet Franc tasting that I hosted last weekend at Vineland Estates Winery.  I thought I should also post about it, since we all got into some great discussions while putting the variety under the scope.

Who Reigns in the Cellar?

As I've gotten more and more into wine and tried to evolve as a taster, it's been a pleasure to go to wineries and taste things from a couple of different vintages.  Some places offer back-vintage wines to taste, the ones with on-site restaurants usually have things that have been stored, but I do get a lot out of trying a lineup of things from the same producer.  When the selection is expanded to include the same vintages from other producers and then further out to completely different regions producing the same varietal, we can establish a clearer picture of the many expressions of the variety or style.  I'm working on building up a collection, but it's still fun to have to search a little bit for the older stuff.

This is what I tried to do with the The Other King, focusing on a variety that plays a supporting role in some of the world's most famous premium reds from Bordeaux.  Here, its crown bears some polish because we can do a different things with it: dry red, rosé, Icewine and late harvest.

I'm sure I've written about it before: we face issues with ripening fruit and overwintering vines, and Cabernet Franc is no exception.  It does have some edge in the second category, but in cool years we find ourselves extending hang time into November, hoping like hell that the sugars will climb to meet standards.  Or, we could make rosé wines.  Sadly, these aren't as popular as big reds.

I like looking at Cabernet Franc as a kind of time capsule for wineries and regions.  Because of its later ripening, wines can be so differently structured between years.  There's always something that points to the vineyard site and winemaking process, and it's also interesting to try and pick out Winemaker A's Cabernet Franc in a blind lineup.  You can tell how they update their technique as they experience more and more vintages at a place, as well.  

The variety prompts me to learn more about bottle aging as well.  Once you've completed the winery stage of élévage, all that's left to do is bottle it.  Winemakers entrust that wine to that bottle and closure, we are at the mercy of the glass and cork.  I'm not talking too much about alternative packaging here: as always different vessels serve different purposes.  I've seen plenty of successful wine aging under screwcap too.  Over time, the tannin structure will collapse, new levels of scent and flavour develop, and the only way to see what it's doing is to open that bottle, ending the process and finishing a spell to be cast on the senses.

Where is this wine going?  Everyone has different opinions on what to do with these wines, and predictions about the development, and that really comes with experience and tasting.  It's always exciting to see something evolve.  It's romantic to buy a few bottles from a time or place significant to you, and keep them during the days that you each change, and then meet back up at a single point. 

Synchronizing Assessment

Within the wine industry, you can choose from such a variety of jobs.  At an event, combining people that work in retail with people that work in production is always interesting; adding enthusiasts that work in other fields also adds to the mix.  If I could take each's perceptions of the wine and chart them, I would have additional dimensions of tasting the wine; it provides a 360-degree view of the glass (as long as it's not corked).  Where are my blind spots as a taster?  Where is my own focus, and why do I focus preferentially on these specific elements?  Now, what aspects did I not consider before discussion?  Extending a wine tasting experience outside of just your own perceptions is a very rewarding thing.  Wines should be made to promote discussion, and this helps facilitate the exchange and expansion of ideas.

We've talked a lot about "calibration" in WSET, too, seeing where our sensitivities lie as tasters and how we can write up tasting notes that are a little more standardized.  My medium acidity is someone else's medium-minus acidity; maybe I'm just more sensitive to it.  My perception of the alcohol in hot-climate reds is something that I usually find to be out of balance; to someone more familiar with the style this can seem perfectly integrated--in relation to the other elements.  There isn't an absolute "medium" tannin, but we can kind of get close to establishing one as we taste in a group and discuss where on the scale we each have placed a characteristic.

Here are some things that I jotted down while doing the blind lineup on Saturday.

The Other King

Flight #1

Wine #1  2009 Pondview Rosé (Niagara)

Nose is clean, fresh strawberries open up to give strawberry-rhubarb pie notes with underlying floral qualities.  Clean, zippy acidity, florality and juiciness with lots of fresh mixed-berry flavours and a little added weight on the palate.  Finishes medium with jam and fruit tart flavours.

Wine #2  1995 Henry of Pelham Cabernet Franc (Niagara)

This was the only large-format bottle in the tasting at 1500 mL.

Nose is clean, with coffee ground and cedar aromas leading to cooked dark fruit, tea, BBQ spices, with the oak carrying through to the finish, medium length.  Tannins have softened, but structure remains clean.  Pretty much drinking at peak.  

Wine #3  2002 Vineland Estates Reserve Cabernet Franc (Niagara)

Nose is clean, plentiful raspberry and chocolate notes, cake spices, lots of oak-derived flavours, cocoa powder and nice dry tannins (skin tannins, aged).  Faint violet notes too.  Very pretty wine, this was one of my favourites from the lineup.

Flight #2

Wine #4  2007 Rafael Cabernet Franc (Long Island)

Nose is clean, vegetal aromas dominate (leafy).  Dried cranberry and oak dominate the palate.  Drying tannins (skin, stem and wood, young).  Finishes with the leafy aromatics revisited and tarragon.

Wine #5  2009 Domaine de Matabrune (Bourgueil)

Nose is clean.  Carbonic characters of candy apple/maraschino cherries.  Pleasing acidity and bright red currant fruit; this one's fun and approachable, very different varietal expression.  Finishes shorter, kind to the palate (washes away some excess tannins).  Acidity definitely "driving the bus", nice cleanser between wines.

Wine #6  2007 Henry of Pelham Cabernet Franc (Niagara)

Clean nose that is smoky and serious.  Oak spices dominate but blackberry fruit appears mid-palate to finish, vanilla and chocolate flavours, very drying tannin structure.  Wrestles with me now, certainly has aging potential.  Pleasing extract, focused ripeness and length.  I may have a bit of a lean to this wine anyway, but a lot of tasters tonight agreed that it also was a favourite.

Wine #7  2007 Vineland Estates Reserve Cabernet Franc (Niagara)

Clean nose with roasted tomato (ripe) and tarragon.  To me this wine has a lot of the hallmark Cabernet Franc herbaceousness, with nice spicy oak and appealing red bell pepper aromas.  Later: here we discussed the aspect of volatile acidity and how it lifts aromatics at some thresholds, while appearing as a fault at others.  This always varies between tasters.  I didn't find the volatility to be offensive in this case.

Flight #3

Wine #8  2005 Henry of Pelham Cabernet Franc (Niagara)

This one was faulted with cork taint; going to re-taste at the next event.

Wine #9  2008 Santa Margherita Cabernet Franc (Veneto)

Nose is clean.  Nice complexity here, fresh and fried fruit aromas both appearing, spicy, focused and intense.  Nice texture, tannins are smooth in spite of youth; there's a pleasing little burst of acidity right on the finish with a hint of florality.  Some coffee bean and whole white peppercorn coming around on the nose now, luscious raspberry fruit.  This one is delicious!  Later: This one had lots of fans, and is a hell of a steal at $13 a bottle.  I was really happy with how it showed.

Wine #10  2005 Vineland Estates Cabernet Franc (Niagara)

Nose is clean.  Chocolate, orange peel aromas and noticeable legs.  Chocolate cherry flavours, complex with fruit, oak and faintly animal scents and flavours (clean, leathery).  Nice mid-palate weight and the structure shows some potential for further holding.  It's smoky on the finish (on the longer side of medium); smoked meat aromas some out with some darker fruit.

Capping Off the Weekend

Of course, my weekend couldn't have been a complete Cabernet Franc overload without matching a fresh bottle of the 2005 Henry of Pelham Cabernet Franc to a gigantic stuffed red bell pepper, topped with bacon and dressed up with balsamic vinegar and cracked black pepper.  I can't wait to pour this one for those of you who attended Saturday, so I'll keep my tasting notes until then!

Thanks for reading!  Cheers,

Melissa

Totally Lives on Red Peppers