Cabernet Franc | amarchinthevines

1. Dynamic Vines

The Rule of Three is a principle that suggests things that come in threes are inherently more satisfying and effective than other numbers of things. Well, in the last few weeks I have enjoyed three very good wine tasting events, time to share some thoughts and findings as well as recommendations and one very surprising outcome for me.

Tasting #1 was in Bermondsey, London and run by the excellent wine company Dynamic Vines, specialising in biodynamic and organic producers. I encountered Jean Christophe one of the Dynamic team at a tasting in Newcastle last August and it was good to meet up with him again. (Also very pleasing to hear that Soaked will be repeated this year).

Unsurprisingly some of the wines I really enjoyed at Soaked were still amongst my favourites here; Cosse, Radikon, Béru and Le Puy. The Blaye wines of Matthieu Cosse are very good indeed and reasonably priced too, the white has beautiful aromatics and full flavours whilst the red is even better with full fruits lifting the Bordeaux backbone. Radikon‘s skin contact wines are, unfortunately, becoming very pricey but the level of consistency across the range is admirable and the entry wine Slatnik is fresh and complex whilst a 2009 example of Ribolla was delicious and shows the potential for ageing these excellent wines. The Chablis wines of Chateau de Béru are exemplary, clean, steely Burgundy Chardonnay with the characteristic minerality but fruit too. Again, like all Burgundy, the prices are climbing fast. I chose Le Puy‘s ‘Emilien’ as my wine of the year after Soaked, it’s still lovely. However, they were put in their place by the Merlot Barthélemy wines of 2020 and 2014, deep and full but £150+.

Another Bordeaux producer, Ormiale, showed some excellent wines. Made by hand (even de-stemming) and with very low yields all the wines were lovely including a red sparkling wine. My favourites were the Malbec ‘Mialbec 22’ fresh with deep plummy fruit and the outstanding Merlot/Cabernet Franc blend ‘Borto 19’ the name suggesting its port like flavours, full, fruity and powerful.

One of my favourite wine regions is Jurancon in the South West of France. I am heading there soon, very exciting. Two new (to me) estates were on show here and I thought the wines of both were excellent. Both of the 2021 dry wines of Domaine De Souche were lovely, the Petit Manseng and Gros Manseng grapes offering the freshness I like but with apple and pear fruit and hints of sweetness whilst remaining clean and dry. Clos Larrouyat wines showed nice citrussy fruit (especially ‘Météore 21), acidity as well as salinity and texture in the ‘Comète 21’. The moelleux ‘Phoenix’ was very good, the sweetness balanced by fresh acidity.

To the Loire (another region I am visiting soon). The Chenin Blanc of La Grange Tiphaine‘s Montlouis was very good but I particularly enjoyed the wines of Les Terres Blanches. The PetNat was persistent and very good, the Chenin Blanc ‘Les Trois Poiriers’ beautifully balanced between freshness, rich fruit and full of lingering apple and white fruit notes. The ‘Gamay de Bouze’ (a rare type of Gamay) had nice spice and crunchy red fruit. The two Cabernet Franc wines stunned me, I’ve not been a fan of the grape but the rich fruit and spice were lovely, ‘Les Hautes Bruyères’ 20 aged in barriques for 30 months was my wine of the day. How was that possible? Cabernet Franc, barriques – not me at all but….

I had heard a lot about the Spumantes of AA Divella which are bringing Italian sparkling wines into the spotlight. Made in the champagne method and using Chardonnay and Pinot Noir they can easily stand comparison with the French region. Freshness, fruit and concentration abounded in all the wines the 2019 Blanc De Noirs in particular was aromatic and rich whilst fresh and clean – very well made. I also liked the wines of Tuscan estate Ampeleia as usual, best of all being the bottle of the same name, ‘Ampeleia 19’. Deep, rich fruits and freshness and made from….. Cabernet Franc. Again!

There were other Italian and Spanish wineries represented, unfortunately I couldn’t get round them all in time. However, I liked a lot the Albarino wines from both Forjas Del Salnes and Rodrigo Mendez, especially the Rias Baixas ‘Salvora 19’ of the latter made from 115 year old vines with incredible depth of both fruit and minerality – very intense yet pleasurable too. Finally, a Swiss producer La Maison Carrée, one of the few I have encountered. The ‘Auvernier Chasselas 22’ and ‘Auvernier Pinot Noir 21’ wines were very good, sadly the prices are high, rarity costs.

This was a gathering of some exceptional producers and some outstanding wines. I wish I had the time to explore other wineries and write about some of the other producers I did visit. However, these wines come with my full recommendation. Dynamic indeed.

Now, what is going on with this newfound appreciation of Cabernet Franc????

Happy New Year everyone.

To start the year I have added a new page to this blog, Wine Of The Week. You will find the link at the top of the home page and as its title suggests I shall be highlighting one wine every week which has caught my attention during those seven days. I am posting the first entry on this page to kick start it, however it will be a freestanding hereafter so please click the link and read it in future weeks.

Week 1

Each week I shall select a wine which has captured my attention for good or bad.

I could have chosen the wine with which we saw in 2016, La Vigne Haute 2011 of Mas Coutelou, but instead I have chosen a wine which I would never normally choose.

I have never been a fan of Cabernet Franc after my early visits to France 30 years ago when I tasted so many unripe, green and bitter Loire red wines. It has become a blind spot for me and people have tried to convert me without success. Greg Bureau of Bouchon Bistrot in Hexham, a native of Tours, has consistently tried to convince me of Cabernet Franc’s merits. So, when we dined at Bouchon on New Year’s Eve I promised him I would order the Bourgeuil on his wine list. And I liked it.

Bourgeuil

In fact this wine comes from one of the natural wine world’s more famous producers, Catherine and Pierre Breton. The bottle was called ‘Trinch’, of which more later. The freshness on the nose was characteristic sign of a biodynamic or natural wine. Red fruits and a streak of acidity were the first taste impressions both reflecting the bright, crimson colour of the wine. An hour later the wine had softened a little though still fresh. There were clear pepper notes, typical of the grape and Bourgeuil with just a hint of greenness. Really nice, soft enough to drink on it sown but very good with food including my excellent halibut dish. This 2014 should be drunk young.

Trinch is part of a quote from Rabelais which you can find on the domaine website. Basically it is an old term for ‘drink’ and I would be happy to drink this wine again. Was it great wine? No, but it was quite good and showed that I can enjoy Cabernet Franc. It is by no means the Bretons’ most serious wine but shows off their skills and philosophy.

Incidentally Bouchon recently won European Restaurant Of The Year in the Journal Secret Diner Awards, the latest in a long line of awards for this consistently excellent restaurant. If you are in the North East of England, try it.