TN: Kent Rasmussen 2007 Mt. Veeder Cabernet Franc

Kent Rasmussen, a well-respected vintner of balanced Carneros Pinot Noir, and mountain Cab Franc from Napa are two wine "things" I've been looking to try. Well, the Kent Rasmussen 2007 Mt. Veeder Cabernet Franc kills two birds with one stone! I found a nice deal on this wine (thanks to Tony at Winery Insider/InVino going above and beyond to honor a price he didn't even know was listed) and picked up a few bottles along with Rasmussen's 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon from the same appellation.

Mt. Veeder juts up to Carneros, so it's reputedly a cooler mountain climate than others in Napa. Anyway, lots of very ripe cherries here, definitely more cherry fruit than a typical Napa Cab. Since Rasmussen's '07 Napa Cab also comes from Mt. Veeder, and I'll be curious to compare and contrast that wine with this one. Rasmussen's notes indicate originally this CF was going to be blended with the CS, but was complete enough to stand on its own. I'm with him on this, though it does make me a wee bit curious what the blended wine would have tasted like.

• 2007 Kent Rasmussen Cabernet Franc Esoterica - USA, California, Napa Valley, Mt. Veeder
  
  
  
  Mix of earthier tones and new oak on the nose--candied ginger, tobacco, black cherry, violets and cinnamon oil. Fairly linear in flavor with refreshing acidity and moderate tannin. More sweet cherries followed by olive on the palate that finishes with good length. Fairly fruit driven in sum, but with layering of additional nuances. Best part is the aromas here. Certainly not a crime to drink now for youthful exuberance given approachability of structure. As good as this is, I do wonder a bit what it would be like with some Cab S for austere tannins and darker fruit to offset the cherry veering to the candied side and/or Merlot to broaden the mid-palate.
  
  

The Price of Miniscule Production

I was recently looking at a small production Napa Cabernet Sauvignon from a single vineyard and was struck by how tiny the production was on a year to year basis. Looking at recent vintages, production has varied consistently from 100 to 160 cases. This means this producer is making about 4 to 6 barrels of wine per vintage. The cost per 750 mL bottle: $75 for new releases.

The point here is not to pick on the producer, thus I'm not naming names. Rather, the idea is to treat this producer as a quick, crude case study. This Cabernet is the only wine this producer makes; it's really all or nothing with this cuvée. While bigger Napa producers sell Cabs in this price range that may have 5k or 10k case production, this producer needs to stay afloat on just a small fraction of that quantity.

Unfortunately, 100-160 cases is really the opposite of an economy of scale. Undoubtedly farming of a small vineyard costs more per acre than a large one since simply getting workers and equipment there at the right time is half the battle. Meanwhile, a producer like this usually needs to hire a winemaker and pay to utilize resources at a custom winemaking facility.

For a boutique producer, even several thousands cases is considered a small production, though this quantity is often spread over multiple wines. If the above Napa producer is selling through and making a sustainable profit by selling a top notch wine at the $75 asking price, there's really no critique to be made of this business model. But from a consumer perspective, I see winemakers who have built from the ground up to run a winery making and selling significantly more wine at one half or one third the price per bottle. I can't help but think micro-production wineries like the above example are saddling consumers with both their large production costs and a rather high per bottle margin simply because they aren't doing as much work as others.

Who knows, perhaps 4-6 barrels of $75 Napa Cab is simply a hobby. It certainly sounds like a quantity of wine a hobbyist could store in a garage. But I really wonder what the producer is doing to earn that price when other boutiques are doing 10 or 20 or 50 times as much work to hit a significantly lower price point. I don't believe this is the only producer pursuing this approach, and I think it will be increasingly hard for micro-production wineries to capture a share of this small market segment with consumers being more careful in their spending.

WN: William Harrison 2007 Rutherford Simpatico

I've been making an effort to try more wines from Napa, really I have. But Napa doesn't make it easy. The wines are mostly very expensive (even when justified), and many can be super-ripe and generally overdone. I've had positive experiences with wines from Carneros, but up valley Napa has been a tough nut to crack. My general rule is if there's nothing exciting at $15-$30, then I'm not gonna move up to a higher price bracket in hopes of finding more gravitas.

Well, the William Harrison 2007 Simpatico, a blend of 65% Cabernet Sauvignon and 35% Cabernet Franc from the Rutherford AVA, has opened up a new avenue of exploration by delivering solid value in a style that I personally like. While this isn't hugely structured for the long-term, it is well-constructed and layered in a classical style. It's sort of French in its balance, yet Californian in its clean fruit with subtle minty earthiness. At around $25, this is a complete wine, which is hardly a given, especially in California.

Based on a heat-summation map in the World Atlas of Wine, Rutherford is primarily a Region II climate, meaning it is moderately cool to temperate. Further north moving towards St. Helena and Calistoga the climate shifts to a warm Region III designation. While the various elevations and exposures muddle distinctions a bit, perhaps this sheds a bit of light on the situation. Carneros may indeed be a marginal cold climate, while Rutherford is in a sweet spot where neither massive fruit or herbaceous bell pepper character dominates. Given that many of the famed, historic vineyards are located in Rutherford and Oakville mid-valley, that certainly would be logical.

• 2007 William Harrison Simpatico - USA, California, Napa Valley, Rutherford
  
  
  Nice value for a Napa/Rutherford wine. Cherries, black currant, a hint of mint/earth, and some licorice and tar. Refreshing mouth-watering acidity, medium bodied, supple texture. More to the cherry and red currant side of spectrum, not plummy. Has some smokey oak, but certainly complementary and balanced. Finishes dry with licorice and cedar, though there is a little persistent heat. Seems built for near term, say 3-5 years, and very pleasurable now. Has the layering of a fine wine at an attractive price point. 65% CS, 35% CF.

WN: Virage 2007 Napa Proprietary Red Blend

After taking notice of Virage Napa Valley in an earlier post, I'm happy to report back that the 2007 vintage of this wine definitely delivers for its target price point of $45. It's a blend of 71% Cabernet Franc, 24% Merlot and 5% Cabernet Sauvignon almost entirely from the cooler confines of Carneros, though it carries a Napa AVA. Proprietress Emily Richer sent me a sample to take for a test drive. It's not a high octane wine, but rather a polished, layered wine that should complement food well yet possess the balance for one to finish the glass on its own after a meal. This wine should have an appeal for fans of middle weight New World Pinot Noir, and the price point is competitive with upper level Pinots that offer a similar stylistic approach, albeit a different flavor profile.

The PR packet I received notes that Emily became interested in Bordeaux Right Bank-style wines via the Havens Bourriquot, a similar blend from Carneros of about 2/3 Cabernet Franc and 1/3 Merlot, because of "its complex aroma, flavor and 'thousand-thread-count' tannin structure." Having tasted many of the recent vintages of the Havens Bourriquot, Virage is doing a fantastic job of emulating the character of this now-defunct vintner's style. The tannin structure in particular matches the thousand-tread-count description as it's present, but woven into the wine so that it's not obvious.

In comparison to the 2004, 2005 and 2006 vintages of the Bourriquot, Virage 2007 Napa Proprietary Red Blend is less green than the 2006 and less funky than either the 2004 or 2005. Yet there's still a tension between the non-fruit components percolating in the background. In terms of ripeness, structure and complexity, this most reminds me most of the 2005 Bourriquot, though the level of funkiness is significantly lower. As far as aging capacity, I'm not going to make specific guesses. But I do suspect this wine will integrate better in several years. Its restraint and balance make me think it could evolve in an interesting manner, though.

While tasting I had guessed a pH of 3.6-3.7, with around 50% new (French) oak. The actual numbers are 3.75 and 40%, so I wasn't too far off. The TA is 5.8 g/L, near my personal sweet spot where a wine is fresh but immediately approachable. Thorough notes follow below.

• 2007 Virage Vineyards - USA, California, Napa Valley, Carneros
  
  On initial pop and pour taste has savory/meaty quality, currant, cedar and mint. A fair amount of oak shows in the mouth, but it seems to be high quality French and integrated as a fine grained texture. Not quite opaque, between crimson and purple in color. Definite beginning, middle and end on the palate.
  
  
  
  Decanted, then consumed over several hours. Savory aromas dissipate, while tobacco and floral aromas emerge. Palate is layered with plums and currants up front, a bit of creaminess on the mid-palate, and tobacco and herbs on the finish. A complete wine with genuine complexity. Oak does show rather strongly on the palate, though perhaps this will integrate better over time. This is not an especially chocolatey, coffeed or toasty style. The acidity is slightly mouthwatering but approachable, while the tannic structure is very fine. Medium to med/full body with firm but integrated structure. Dry, though not austere.
  
  
  
  There's a palpable tension between a subtle herbaceous undercurrent and the fruit and oak components. A layered, multi-faceted wine that was best on its last sip. The oak on the palate is a bit distracting ultimately, but on the whole it is complementary and doesn't obscure other aromas. Shows a well-polished cooler-climate Cab Franc profile.
  

Disclaimer: This bottle was received as a press sample. And in the interest of full disclosure, I'm somewhat predisposed to liking both the wine style and business model of the producer.

One to Watch: Virage Vineyards

I stumbled across an interesting new producer by the name of Virage Vineyards that is apparently following in the footsteps of the defunct Havens Cellars. Normally Napa projects follow some basic formula: wealthy investor wants to make trophy wine, overspends on land and McChateau, hires many top consultants, ignores these costs, makes a small production cult-style Cabernet Sauvignon. This one's a bit different, though. An investment banker named Emily--as relayed via the Virage blog--tasted the 2004 Havens Bourriquot and was hooked. Fast forward a few years and she's put together a project with a sensible business plan geared to produce a Cab Franc-based blend from the same vineyards in Carneros Havens used before going bankrupt. I'm liking the idea already, and there's even a well-known Napa winemakers with experience in St. Emilion, Aaron Pott, helming the winemaking portion of the project.

Clearly this isn't going to be a cheap wine. Sourcing excellent fruit, hiring a winemaker and renting space at a winery is definitely not cheap. But there also seems to be a focus on balancing costs to produce a wine whose quality is commensurate to its price. That's a worthy cause, especially when the stylistic goal is complexity over pure power.

There's a nice post on the Virage blog summarizing a wide array of Napa Cab Franc-based wines. A lot of these wines, quite frankly, are out of a sensible price range as dinner beverages, though they probably are aiming for a different purpose anyway. But this tasting offers a nice window into the range of styles available from Napa. I think it confirms what I've suspected all along. From a stylistic point of view, the cooler Carneros based wines are more likely to bring the freshness and complexity I crave from Franc. The more expensive wines tend to be more heavily oaked, though perhaps this could integrate with time. Northern Napa Cab Francs with heavy oak and big bodies are probably not something I'll seek out as the descriptions seem as if they could apply to any ripe Bordeaux blend.

WN: Havens 2006 Napa Valley Bourriquot & Charles Joguet 2005 Chinon Les Varennes du Grand Clos Franc de Pied

I was debating whether to post the Havens 2006 Napa Valley Bourriquot and the Charles Joguet 2005 Chinon Les Varennes du Grand Clos Franc de Pied as separate entries. But since I tasted them together and they represent such a tour de force of Cab Franc regional and varietal character, it's pretty clear they need to be posted together. Both are excellent wines with superb typicity, albeit rather different. Most interestingly, they cover the full Cab Franc tobacco spectrum.

The now defunct Havens winery has been a popular topic on my blog, and in fact I've tried two prior vintages of the Bourriquot, a blend of 2/3 Cab Franc and 1/3 Merlot. The 2005 was simply one of the best California wines I've tasted, though the 2004 wasn't too shabby, either. The 2006 Bourriquot, while not as complex and refined as the 2005, presented a very compelling profile in its own right. It was brimming with fresh tobacco aromas and flavors. Not exactly what most folks want in California wine, but I love it. One might be tempted to say this is Old World, but really it isn't. There's still a richness and forwardness to the fruit that's very Californian. While California often gets derided for its lack of terroir, this is one wine that has a certain sense of place and a stylistic sense of purpose. I also appreciated the sort of integrated, sneaky structure in this bottling. It doesn't hit you in the face with tannins, yet there's a definite backbone seamlessly built into the wine.

The Joguet offered an interesting contrast. While 2006 was a relatively cool year in California, the 2005 vintage in the Loire Valley was one of the warmest and ripest in its history. And yet the Chinon had much cooler edge to it. What really struck me was the juxtaposition of cigarettes and roses. Just a crazy pairing of aromas. A lot of the tasting notes in CellarTracker mention more fruit, which leads me to believe this bottle had shed a good bit of its primary fruit in the bouquet. And yet despite the green edge on the nose, this wine was far less earthy in flavor than the Bourriquot. This wine was entirely an exercise is concentrated sour fruits and stony minerality. Go figure! The finish was long and there's a ton of depth of flavor--I'll be checking in on my other bottle in a few years if not more to see how it develops.

One important side note concerns the cuvee and terroir of the Joguet. Franc de Pied means the vines are own-rooted, which is rarely the case because the vine louse Phylloxera simply destroys European rootstock. Usually the vines are grafted to Phylloxera resistant American rootstock. Unfortunately, the inevitable is occurring with Joguet's Franc de Pied vines: they are dying due to Phylloxera. As to the effect of the own-rooted vines, who's to say? I do have the regular bottling of this cuvee from 2005, so perhaps I'll have to compare the own-rooted to the grafted vine wine in a few years. On the Varennes du Grand Clos Franc de Pied, the Joguet website says:

This one-hectare plot of non-grafted vines was planted in 1982, in conjunction with INRA. Half of the plot was replanted in 1992 and 1995.

Produced from the same terroir as Les Varennes du Grand Clos, Les Varennes Franc de Pied is vinified separately in vintages that seem to best distinguish their typicity.

This experiment should produce all the typicity of "pre-grafted" Cabernet Franc, but there is a risk, however, of phylloxera resurfacing.
We limit the yield of this plot to 30 hl/ha (or 1,210 litres per acre).

For the regular Varennes du Grand Clos, they write:

At the foot of the gravelly terrace formed, in part, by the erosion of the limestone slope, this very particular silico-clay and silico-calcareous terroir lies on the left bank of the Vienne, in Sazilly.

These 4.5 ha (10.8 acres) of vines planted between 1962 and 1976 have an average yield of 40 hl/ha (or 1,620 litres per acre).

I guess I'll just have to try the wines side by side to see what difference the rootstock actually makes. One interesting point is that the own-rooted vines are young, relatively speaking. Conventional wisdom says old vines produce the most profound wines. But maybe the rootstock offsets the age difference in some manner. Ah, the questions that can never be fully answered.

• 2006 Havens Wine Cellars Bourriquot - USA, California, Napa Valley
  
  Tobacco (of the fresh cut variety), tar, violets, currant and cherry on the nose. Tart cherry followed by a tobacco heavy, earthy finish. Full bodied, definitely showing CA fruit. But ripeness is held in check so earth and acid are still there. Tannins are soft, integrated. There is a little heat there, though. Nice job of making a non-CA style with CA fruit. Oak is nicely integrated. Not quite as deep as the '05, though.
  
  

• 2005 Charles Joguet Chinon Franc de Pied Les Varennes du Grand Clos - France, Loire Valley, Touraine, Chinon
  
  Tobacco--like smashed up cigarettes--and roses on the nose. At this stage this one is for hard core Cab Franc fans. Very little funk/Brett here if at all. Very fresh on the palate. Under-ripe plum and currants. High acid, concentrated, tannic. Mineral and crisp fruit laden finish that carries on for quite a while. More mineral than earthy in flavor. Hold for a at least 3-5 years to see where this is going.
  
  

TN: Titus 2005 Napa Cabernet Franc

I don't drink many Napa wines. They're usually too expensive and often aim for a very ripe, oaky style that I'm not often in the mood to drink. I was in the right mood, though, so I opened a bottle of the Titus 2005 Napa Cabernet Franc (75% Cab Franc with 15% Cab S and 10% Malbec to be precise). It delivered essentially what I had anticipated: a New World red wine experience. In other words, it's a solid cocktail wine.

The nose is definitely channeling plum jam and blueberry pie filling with a side helping of dried herbs and bell pepper. Riper than I like, but not crossing the line into pruney aromas that would be a deal-breaker. At any rate, the bouquet is strong and likable. The palate is textbook New World texture-driven wine in a medium-full bodied package. Sweet dark fruit upfront, vanilla oak tannins rounding out the mid-palate, and a little chocolate with melted tannins on the finish. It's a little flabby and soft (TA is listed at 5.7 g/L), and a little like a milkshake (40% new oak). Still, there is enough structure to hold it together.

The quality is there as it's clear this isn't mediocre fruit spoofed up with oak dust. This is good fruit aged in French oak. But the character is a bit lacking. I wouldn't necessarily peg this as Cab Franc because the ripeness levels and oak make it taste like any other other Bordeaux varietal made in this style. At best, its slightly lighter body and softer structure suggest it's not Cab S. Not a bad wine, though it could use a bit more freshness and lift. There was a time where I'd go off and rant that this is too New World. But let's face it, if you buy Napa, that's the style you will find most of the time. It's a fun cocktail wine, though the price is higher than I'd like for a wine that struggles to express varietal and place.

Pros: Powerful Dark Fruit Flavors and Aromas, Round Mid-palate, Soft Texture
Cons: Slightly Flabby, Lacking Unique Character
Decant: Maybe, didn't develop much with time
Price: $30 from Woodland Hills Wine Co.
QPR: Mediocre (out of Poor, Mediocre, Fair, Good or Excellent with Fair denoting expectations were met for the price point)