Cabernet Franc

We first visited Saint-Émilion years ago, checking into l’Hôtel Palais Cardinal, which is magnificently perched atop this medieval village. Sun poured into our neatly appointed rooms each summer morning. Owned and operated by the Beyney family since 1926, the hotel serves an unforgettable petit déjeuner—freshly baked croissants, brioche, and chaussons aux pommes, washed down with cups…

Very Tasty and Complete Cellar-Stuffer Nobody is wiser about Napa Cabernet Franc than John and Tracey Skupny, who’ve championed this Loire-Valley and Bordeaux variety for more than two decades. Lang & Reed has landed on the wine lists at Mustards and The French Laundry, but remarkably, they’ve resisted the high prices their reputation and praise…

Antonio Galloni of Vinous called the 2016 Cerro Sur “an extraordinarily beautiful, stunning wine of real pedigree. I loved it.” It consists of 78% Cabernet Franc grown at Rancho Chimiles perched high in the mountains east of Coombsville, where the 40-year-old vines produce intense yet gorgeously fresh and focused fruit.  Rounded out by 22% Cabernet…

When Wine Spectator first called the Lang & Reed Cabernet Franc California North Coast a “Smart Buy,” it qualified as a major understatement: We’ve long seen Lang & Reed on the wine lists at Mustards and The French Laundry, and always been amazed how they’ve resisted the high prices their reputation and praise could easily…

An Ode to the Loire Valley We’re offering this 2017 Thierry Germain Les Roches because we can say with absolute certainty that it is going to start—or reignite—your love affair with Cabernet Franc. Les Roches is a red-berried and savory-spiced ode to the Loire Valley, gifted to us from 25-year-old Cabernet Franc vines planted in…

Most Cabernet Franc we’re used to from California, Washington, or Bordeaux tends to taste sort of similar. But, this 2018 Belasco De Baquedano Llama Cabernet Franc—from the very estate that convinced Château Mouton Rothschild’s winemaker to leave the Médoc for Mendoza—is markedly different. Fruitier than a Loire Chinon, this has all the spice, florals, and…

“You’ve got to taste this.” We get plenty of texts like that, but few come from respected authors of famous wine books and renowned podcasts like Elizabeth Schneider of Wine for Normal People. It took weeks to track down the elusive wine in her accompanying iPhone snap, but once the earthy, red-fruited 2018 Pascal et…

“Absolutely fabulous. The word is ‘balance’… My dinner grouping could not believe it was not $100/bottle.” That member review sums up why every single wine we’ve offered from Randall Watkins has been a straightaway sell-out, and we’re thrilled to have the second-ever bottling of his Watkins Family Winery Cabernet Franc Bugay Vineyard.  Randall only makes…

Cabernet Franc is en fuego. In Napa Valley, the grapes sell for around $10,000 per ton, 20% more than Cabernet Sauvignon’s average. The wines of Saint-Émilion are as popular as ever, and who could have predicted that the Loire’s Clos Rougeard would one day fetch over $500? Argentina’s embrace of the grape is a relatively…

“You’ve got to taste this.” We get plenty of texts like that, but few come from respected authors of famous wine books and renowned podcasts like Elizabeth Schneider of Wine for Normal People. It took weeks to track down the elusive wine from her message, but once the earthy, red-fruited 2019 Pascal et Alain Lorieux…