Before I get into this review I want to give you a sense of what motivates me to pick up a bottle of wine when I’m at a wine store. First and foremost: the region. I usually start in the California/Washington State/Oregon region, meander my way along the French, Italian and Spanish wines (pausing to check out the German and Austrian offers), pausing at the Australian and New Zealand section (I cannot impress upon you enough the importance of buying Australian wines, they are just BRILLIANT) and finally, I always seem to end up spending most of my time in the South American area, featuring wines from Argentina and Chile.
You could say that Terroir is my major motivating factor; and you’re probably correct. I love all wine regions, but I have a special fondness for wines produced from grapes in the Mendoza region of Argentina
The second thing that motivates me to pick up a bottle is the varietal. While I do enjoy whites and rosé; my love of red wine is overpowering. My two favorite varietal are Malbec and Cabernet Franc.
So enamored am I with these two grapes that I actually purchased two vines (one of each) to attempt to grow in my garden. (I’m planting Cab Franc #01 and Malbec #08 Freedom Rootstock vines, ordered from http://www.mypersonalvineyard.com ). I don’t really expect to make any wine from these plants, I’d just like to learn a little about viticulture.
So, there I was at our local wine store, staring at a bottle of 2005 Bodega Del Desierto’s version of Cab Franc. I flip the bottle over to get an idea of the alcohol content (referred to as “heat level” by some of my wine-nut friends) and it’s a screaming 14.8%!! That’s about the level of alcohol as you’ll find in a Zinfandel (some vintages of which are, in the words of Monty Python: “…not a wine for drinking, this is a wine for laying down and avoiding.”
Cab Franc is generally used as a “blending” wine, it’s lighter and less tannic than a Cab Sauv and is known for it’s pepperish notes and fruity/tobacco aromas. My favorite Cab Francs are grown on Long Island, New York; and the few I’ve had from France lacked the “finesse” that I’ve gotten used to from LI wines.
Not that I really know what I’m talking about, when it comes to finesse mind you: but I like my vitis vinifera and this Bordeaux
So, I see this bottle, about $14 US price point, it’s a Cab Franc and it’s from Argentina
And here’s how it tasted:
Color (8/10)
Dull clarity, medium depth, ruby red color is exactly what you’d expect in a Cab Franc and that’s what I see here. The edges fade to violet slowly revealing it’s thinness. I scored this one a 8 because it get’s 5 for looking the way I’d expect a Cab Franc to look (based on my very limited experience)...in other words, it’s not pink like a Rosé, but it’s not purple like a Merlot. It gets 3 more points for it’s apparent lack of sediment (although, I just opened the bottle and didn’t decant it: so it might end up with crystals all over the bottom). I’d call this a bright rusty color, much like the previously mentioned gemstone. Anyway, it’s a nice looking wine.
Nose (27/30)
I loved the nose when I first opened it: it expressed lots of dusty green peppers, toasty raspberry fruit and a little bit of sweet tobacco: BUT, I only scored this a 27 because there’s something between that sweet and pepper smell that merges into a hint of sour. I’m struggling to describe this: I want to say licorice but that’s not quite right; maybe old leaves is closer to what I’m getting below the fruit. I liked this a lot: a Cab Franc always grabs me by the nose and makes me smile, but I have to be honest about that slight old leaf thing going on there: it’s not corked; this was something the wine-maker wanted: but this is the “earthy” flavor that usually gets masked in blending. I like this, don’t get me wrong: but not when it’s this sour. Also: I don’t want to give the impression that this was overwhelming…but I’m trying to score objectively here, and while this wine is fantastic, it’s worthy of a 27.
Palate (37/40)
I have to digress a minute here and talk about a fruit called Blackcurrant. Ever hear of this berry? You don’t see them much in the United States , unless of course you live in New England . We have these berry bushes all over the place: the birds love them…but as for eating, we prefer our blueberries. As kids, we used to munch on these, but they are so sharply sweet, that we ended up spitting them out a lot. They can’t hurt you: but since we’re filthy with blueberry bushes where I live (I have two growing in my yard that we pick from in August for muffins and pancakes) we usually avoid the harder, more tangy blackcurrants.
In wine tasting, blackcurrant is reserved for those wines that have a sharp sweetness to them, and this is what I love most about Cab Franc. In the mouth, the first taste you get is the distinct flavor of blackcurrant, and it brings me back to my childhood camping trips at Camp Child in Plymouth , MA
There’s also a slightly chalky (not tannic) mouth feel here: with an ample body to this wine. It has a solid structure with a short astringency that doesn’t overpower the sweetness of the fruit. The finish is a bit hot, with notes of black pepper and a little bit of cinnamon in there somewhere.
I really liked this wine a lot, but there was a warm alcoholic afterglow (not the effect, I’m talking the taste) that I wish was toned down a bit. I’m scoring this a 37.
Overall (19/20)
For an overall score, I’m giving this a 19. Yeah, yeah, yeah: I know what you’re saying “But Steve” (this is what I imagine you’re saying) “your color, nose and palate scores weren’t this high individually.
That’s because this wine is really well balanced. This is a wine I could eat with Pizza, Steak, or even the Pork Roast I’m cooking tonight (I wrote this at 5:30 at night, just after I recorded a video where I gave my first impressions).
Total: 8+27+37+19= 91
This is a great Cab Franc, from one of my favorite wine regions. It’s not as light as the Long Island reds that I’ve had, but very nice just the same (and interestingly enough: a few dollars cheaper than those Cab Francs I’ve had on the North Fork ).
The 2005 Bodega Del Desierto Cabernet Franc 25/5 from La Pampa , Alto Valle del Río Colorado in Argentina
Salute!
