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Featured Entries:
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Domaine Rose-Dieu Plan de Dieu, 2014
Domaine Rose-Dieu 2014 “Plan De Dieu”, 14.5% ABV, Approx $16/bottle in 2016. Most wine lovers have favorites when it comes to Côtes du Rhône village-level wines. This one I found locally for about $16, but I’ve seen as low as $12 online! Domaine Rose Dieu’s Plan De Dieu, a full-bodied, spicy blend of Grenache, Syrah, […]
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Troon Takes Orange Wine to the Next Level
Troon Vineyards 2019 Kubli Bench Amber, Estate Orange Wine; Applegate Valley AVA, OR. 13.3% ABV, MSRP $30/bottle. Kubli Bench Amber is an orange wine from Troon Vineyards, a Demeter BioDynamic, Certified Organic winery in the Applegate Valley AVA, located in the southwestern region of Oregon. The Kubli Bench Amber is a blend of 74% […]
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Smith Madrone: Blurring the Lines Between Old and New World Wines.
I recently had the opportunity to join in a live tasting of four wines I’d highly enjoyed a year ago. The winery, Smith-Madrone, is one of the best under-the-radar labels you can find. I’m still surprised their prices have not sky-rocketed, but their wines are selling out faster every year and their value is among […]
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Wines of the Dão
When I think about wines with tremendous value, my first reaction is the Iberian Peninsula. But move over Spain, the wines of Portugal are coming through! OK, so is this really new? Maybe you’ve tried some Portuguese wines before. But this IS new, unless you have truly paid serious attention to the wines of the Dão […]
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Old World Flavors From a New World Vineyard: Lucas & Lewellen Toccata Classico 2015
Lucas & Lewellen Toccata 2015 Classico Red Wine, Santa Barbara County, California, USA. 14.7%ABV, SRP is $29/bottle. Sample Provided. Winemaker Megan McGrath Gates blended 50% sangiovese, 30% cabernet sauvignon, and 5% each of merlot, cab franc, petite verdot, and freisa , from Santa Barbara County’s Los Alamos and Valley View vineyards. Color is a medium […]
Recent Reviews
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Troon Takes Orange Wine to the Next Level
Troon Vineyards 2019 Kubli Bench Amber, Estate Orange Wine; Applegate Valley AVA, OR. 13.3% ABV, MSRP $30/bottle. Kubli Bench Amber is an orange wine from Troon Vineyards, a Demeter BioDynamic, Certified Organic winery in the Applegate Valley AVA, located in the southwestern region of Oregon. The Kubli Bench Amber is a blend of 74% […]
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Smith Madrone: Blurring the Lines Between Old and New World Wines.
I recently had the opportunity to join in a live tasting of four wines I’d highly enjoyed a year ago. The winery, Smith-Madrone, is one of the best under-the-radar labels you can find. I’m still surprised their prices have not sky-rocketed, but their wines are selling out faster every year and their value is among […]
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Wines of the Dão
When I think about wines with tremendous value, my first reaction is the Iberian Peninsula. But move over Spain, the wines of Portugal are coming through! OK, so is this really new? Maybe you’ve tried some Portuguese wines before. But this IS new, unless you have truly paid serious attention to the wines of the Dão […]
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2016 Aridus Graciano and Syrah from Cochise County, Arizona
Aridus 2016 Graciano, Cochise County, Arizona. %14.4 ABV, SRP $37/bottle. By Jim vanBergen, JvBUnCorked. All Rights Reserved. Copyright by Jim van Bergen, JvB UnCorked 2019. May Not Be Duplicated Without Permission. Color is an opaque purple center with dark ruby edging. The nose shows black and blue fruit compote, eucalyptus, and a subtle herbal blend. […]
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Pazo Torrado Albariño Rias Baixas, Galicia
Pazo Torrado Albariño 2017, D.O. Rías Baixas, Galicia, Spain. 12.5%ABV, SRP around $11/bottle. All Rights Reserved. Copyright by Jim van Bergen, JvB UnCorked 2019. May Not Be Duplicated Without Permission. By Jim van Bergen, JvBUnCorked Color is a translucent medium straw. The nose offers a luxurious floral aroma, hyacinth, orchid and pineapple. […]
Recent Commentary:
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Evening Land 2011 Bourgogne Rouge
My love of pinot noir began with Burgundy and expanded rapidly around the world. More than ten years ago, I was attending an Oregon regional tasting and had been severely impressed with an Evening Land wine I tasted from the Eola-Amity Hills AVA of the Willamette Valley. When I found out they were also making […]
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Enjoying Aged White Wine & Pierre Morey 2011 Bourgogne Aligoté
Let me start with a wine review: Pierre Morey, 2011 Bourgogne Aligoté, Meursalt, Cote D’Or, France. 12% ABV; Case purchase in 2013 for $17/bottle. At nine years of age, the color has only slightly deepened to a maturing pale gold. Aroma is light and mellow, reductive of dried wildflowers and lemon zest. On the palate, the […]
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New Year’s Bottles and my “Dry” January
Several close friends decided to have a dry January. Everyone understands the idea, you’re dieting off the weight that got put on over the holidays, and your liver could use a break. While I had some time off from work, I saw my doctor and had my blood work done- so I know my liver […]
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Flattery in Wine?
When people make fun of your passions, or when personal and professional interests crossover, it must be a sign your blog is doing something right. Right? A friend of mine texted me today with this gem: It was funny, in a laughing-at-Sideways kind of moment. But now I’m suddenly feeling like a glass of merlot! […]
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What You Learn When Pouring for Others
I love pouring wine for others. I recently donated several cases of wine to a fundraiser, and in addition to the wine, I poured glasses to the attendees. They walked up to a wine bar, I asked them what they liked to drink, and then poured them a taste. Sometimes I poured them tastes from […]
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Get #Franc’d Up with #CabFranc
12 DecHere’s the thing:
I’ve liked cabernet franc for a long time. I’ve enjoyed it primarily as a blending grape, and secondarily as a single vineyard varietal, as a wine that I sometimes offer at Thanksgiving. But as a grape, it never bowled me over, that is, until #CabFrancDay.
For #CabFrancDay, I tasted seven bottles of cab franc in great detail. I spent copious time with each one.
Sometimes I came away with tremendous tasting notes. Sometimes I just wanted to sit and enjoy the flavor and fragrance of the wine, much like the title character in Munro Leaf’s book, “Ferdinand the Bull”.
Some things dawned on me while I sat and smelled cabernet franc, taking tiny sips and noting flavors.
And what I found out about cabernet franc wasn’t earth shattering knowledge. But it was incredibly valuable and made me think about how I pair wines and food.
The cabernet franc grape is the thin-skinned father to the bold, bodacious, massively-flavored cabernet sauvignon grape. In comparison, Cab franc is restrained, genteel, even moderate. While it features flavors of dark berries, cassis, bell peppers, leather, forest floor and licorice, these flavors are subtle and mild, and the wine’s acidity and tannins are equally muted. These are what helps make cab franc an excellent blending grape. On the other side of the equation, for a winemaker who develops the grape with intent of making a great single varietal bottle of cab franc, sometimes they are able to create a wine that has class, maturity, and depth in only three or four years, with characteristics that I often wait a decade for in Old World wines.
I want to share my tasting notes from #CabFrancDay. And I still might, but it’s more important to me to peak your interest and whet your appetite on the GRAPE. It’s a bit of a challenge to find a great cab franc, but it is also highly worthwhile.
So today, no tasting notes. Instead, I’m going to tell you what I FELT about these wines.
I felt that these wines showed beautiful expression: they were delicate, reserved, graceful. In general, I found that the East coast cabernet francs were more subtle with slightly higher acidity. The Oregon and California Cabernet Francs were more expressive, more powerful, still reserved but passionate. While I really enjoyed the expression of the East coast cab francs, the West Coast Cabernet Francs haunted me. I dreamed about them. I talked about them constantly. I searched my social media feeds to see if there were associated experiencing the same thing.
There were. There are.
Some of my friends preferred the East Coast wines. But we all were impressed, if not blown away. Some, however, had powerful experiences like myself.
There is a new movement afoot. To get #FrancdUp does NOT mean to get drunk, but instead, to hedonistically enjoy a beautifully made #CabernetFranc.
Find your #Franc. Get Franc’dUp. Trust me. And feel free to tell me about it.
You can thank me later!
à votre santé!
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Tags: #CabFrancDay, #FrancdUp, cabernet franc, Commentary, Wine Commentary