Cabernet Franc
Cabernet Franc
Laughing Stock 2021 Portfolio 3 L
Canadian Red
Merlot accounts for half of the blend; the balance is twenty-nine percent Cabernet Sauvignon, twelve percent Cabernet Franc, five percent Malbec and four percent Petit Verdot. Cassis and blueberry appear with cedar box and fresh tobacco. Red fruit, cocoa powder, smoked cherry and tobacco leaf are also present. The wine has structure, texture and a long spicy finish.
Antinori Guado al Tasso 2009 Bolgheri DOC Superiore
Italian Red
Balsamic notes appear with ripe fruit and spices. The palate is velvety, with soft tannins and finesse. Savoury mineral notes, length and persistence are also present. Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc are joined by a small amount of Petit Verdot. Malolactic fermentation and eighteen months of ageing take place in small oak barrels. Bottle ageing lasts ten months.
Joseph Phelps 2019 Insignia
American Red
Cabernet Sauvignon accounts for seventy-five percent of the blend, with Petit Verdot and Merlot each at ten percent, Malbec at three percent and Cabernet Franc at two percent. An inky dark hue accompanies ripe blackberry, star anise, cigar box, clove and sweet mocha. The full-bodied palate has velvety texture, supple tannins, black plum, violets and baking spices.
Château Lynch-Bages 2020 Pauillac
French Red
Cabernet Sauvignon accounts for sixty percent of the blend, with Merlot at thirty-one percent, Petit Verdot at five percent and Cabernet Franc at four percent. The vineyard soil is Garonne gravel. The grapes are hand-picked and sorted in the vineyard. Ageing lasts eighteen months in French oak barrels, with new wood accounting for seventy-five percent.
Château Léoville Poyferré 2010 Saint-Julien
French Red
Cabernet Sauvignon accounts for fifty-six percent of the blend, with Merlot at thirty-four percent, Petit Verdot at seven percent and Cabernet Franc at three percent. Mindel gravel terraces lie over sandy-clay subsoil. Blackberry, black cherry and orange peel accompany a full body, round creamy tannins and a flavourful finish. Violet edging appears around the rim.
Château Phélan Ségur 2022 Saint-Estèphe
French Red
Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Petit Verdot and Cabernet Franc form a 56/40/2/2 blend. Almost-black colour has purple reflections. Juicy black fruit, spice, subtle floral notes, black cherry, rose and cedar are present. The palate is fleshy, flavourful and mellow, with power, density, richness and silky, assertive tannins. The finish is persistent and balanced, with menthol notes.
Château Malescot Saint-Exupéry 2018 Margaux
French Red
Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc form a 60/32/8 blend. The vineyard has Pyrenean gravel, ten thousand vines per hectare and an average vine age of forty-five years. Fruit is hand harvested and sorted. The wine ferments in temperature-controlled stainless steel and concrete, then spends thirteen to fifteen months in barrel, seventy percent new. Balance, depth, freshness and silky tannins appear with lightly woody, toasted notes after aeration.
Paul Hobbs 2018 Coombsville Cabernet Sauvignon
American Red
Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot form an 85/10/5 blend. The fruit is hand harvested at night and fermented with indigenous yeasts in small, closed stainless-steel tanks. The wine receives a five-day cold soak and thirty days of total maceration. After spontaneous malolactic fermentation in barrel, it ages twenty months in French oak, sixty-nine percent new, before unfined and unfiltered bottling. Wild blueberry, dried lavender, mocha, red currant, black fig, sage and leather meet fresh acidity, fine-grained tannins and crushed-rock minerality.
Joseph Phelps 2021 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon
American Red
Ripe currant, tobacco, leather, pencil shavings and dark chocolate are joined by dark plum, blackberry and savoury spice. The full-bodied wine is rich, fleshy, dense and layered, with acid structure and depth. The blend is ninety-two percent Cabernet Sauvignon, four percent Petit Verdot, two percent Cabernet Franc, one percent Merlot and one percent Malbec. It matured for sixteen months in new and used French and American oak barrels.
Château Malartic-Lagravière 2016 La Réserve de Malartic Red
French Red
Merlot forms sixty percent of the blend, with thirty percent Cabernet Sauvignon and five percent each Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. Ripe blueberry accompanies a supple, medium-bodied profile and a long, silky finish. Vinification uses thermoregulated stainless-steel or oak vats, while maturation lasts fifteen months in French oak barrels. The cuvée is a red from Pessac-Léognan.
Domaine de Compostelle 2020 Pomerol
French Red
Merlot makes up eighty-five percent of the blend, with fifteen percent Cabernet Franc. Cassis, roasted cherry, black fruit and pepper sit alongside mineral detail, juiciness, violet and incense. The tannins are racy, while the texture is round and supple with freshness. The finish is persistent, smooth and soft. Production totals twelve thousand thirty-four bottles, with maturation divided between tank and barrel.
Poplar Grove 2016 The Legacy
Canadian Red
Cabernet Franc leads the blend at thirty-three percent, joined by twenty-five percent Malbec, fifteen percent Merlot, fourteen percent Cabernet Sauvignon and thirteen percent Petit Verdot. Savoury cedar, lead pencil and red fruit accompany fresh red cherry, dried herbs and dense, sweet tannins. Estate-grown grapes were hand-picked and sorted. Production included extended maceration, twenty-one months in French barriques and two years in bottle.
Black Hills 2006 Nota Bene
Canadian Red
Cabernet Sauvignon makes up forty-seven percent of the blend, with thirty-seven percent Merlot and sixteen percent Cabernet Franc. Tobacco leaf, green olive, sage, tomato leaf and menthol sit beside coffee, pepper, cassis and saddle leather. The palate is round, dry and moderately smooth, with light tannins. Smoky, meaty and savoury notes are also present. Alcohol is fourteen-point-seven percent.
Black Hills 2001 Nota Bene
Canadian Red
Cabernet Sauvignon accounts for forty-six percent of the blend, with thirty-five percent Merlot and nineteen percent Cabernet Franc. Dry cedar, peppery leather, green bean and bell pepper sit beside mint, tobacco and smoky vanilla. The wine has ample extract and fourteen percent alcohol. Production totalled 1,800 cases. Root vegetable, smoky liquorice and peppery olive are also present.
Black Hills 2002 Nota Bene
Canadian Red
Cabernet Sauvignon accounts for forty-eight percent of the blend, with thirty-seven percent Merlot and fifteen percent Cabernet Franc. Black pepper, roasted bell pepper, roots, leaves and saddle leather sit beside smoky vanilla, green bean, olive, cassis, black cherry, stewed tomato and resin. The entry is rich and smooth, with ripe tannins. Alcohol is fourteen-point-five percent.
Black Hills 2007 Nota Bene
Canadian Red
Cabernet Sauvignon accounts for forty-six percent of the blend, with thirty-nine percent Merlot and fifteen percent Cabernet Franc. Black cherry and cassis sit alongside savoury espresso, pipe tobacco and roasted tomato. A dusty finish is also present. The texture is soft, with rich fine-grained tannins and a warm, smooth finish. Alcohol is fourteen-point-seven percent by volume.
Château Batailley 2016 Lions de Batailley Pauillac
French Red
Cabernet Sauvignon forms 61 percent of the blend, joined by 31 percent Merlot and 8 percent Cabernet Franc. The wine has balanced, silky tannins, acidity and length. Fruit comes mainly from young vines on gravel and silica soils. Fermentation lasts fifteen days with pumpovers, followed by eighteen months in French oak barriques, divided between one-year-old barrels and forty percent new oak.
Domaine Guiberteau 2018 Saumur Les Chapaudaises
French Red
Blackcurrant, blackberry, leather and chalk accompany a fresh, elegant and mineral palate. Cabernet Franc comes from three parcels of old vines rooted in silt and sand over softer limestone. Cherry, lemon and stony notes add to the profile. The wine is full-bodied, intense and fleshy, with ripe, silky tannins and a long finish. Alcohol is thirteen and a half percent.
Château La Création 2016 Pomerol
French Red
Black fruit, perfume and spice sit within a rich profile, with the oak ageing kept in balance. The blend is 61 percent Merlot, 28 percent Cabernet Franc and 11 percent Cabernet Sauvignon. Grapes are harvested by hand, followed by a cold maceration and vinification in temperature-controlled stainless steel. Maturation lasts fifteen to eighteen months in French oak barrels.
Domaine de l’Ecu 2016 Mephisto Cabernet Franc
French Red
Black fruit, blackberry, strawberry, redcurrant and white pepper accompany sweet spice in a rich Cabernet Franc. Tannins are tight yet velvety, with volume and delicacy. Grapes are harvested by hand from granite soils and fermented with native yeasts. The wine matures in old barrels and amphorae for fifteen months. The vineyards have been farmed organically since nineteen seventy-five and carry Demeter Biodynamic certification dating from nineteen ninety-eight.
Rudd 2003 Estate Grown Cabernet Sauvignon 375 mL
American Red
Dense ruby-purple colour accompanies blackcurrant, espresso roast, charcoal and cedar. Firm tannins are another characteristic of the wine. Cabernet Sauvignon makes up seventy-six percent of the blend, joined by Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot and Malbec. Dried dark berry, crushed rock, cedar, graphite, nut and chicory add further detail to this Oakville Estate wine from Napa Valley.
Fairview Cellars 2012 Premier Series Cabernet Franc
Canadian Red
Plum and spice define the nose of this Canadian Cabernet Franc from British Columbia's Okanagan Valley. The wine is dry and carries medium-plus acidity together with substantial tannin. At a contemporary cellar tasting, the bottle remained quite closed but was already described as very tasty. Its tannic scale was recorded between medium-plus and high at that visit.
Château Balestard La Tonnelle 2009 Saint-Émilion Grand Cru
French Red
A supple opening gives way to a fruit-filled middle with noticeable tannin, a slight hollow and a touch of dryness. The blend brings together Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon in Saint-Émilion Grand Cru. Fruit and supple texture sit beside the tannic structure, while the three traditional Bordeaux varieties establish the composition of this classified estate wine.
Quilceda Creek 2012 CVR Red Wine
American Red
Red fruit, herbs, smoke and anise accompany a rich, seamless character. The blend is 91% Cabernet Sauvignon, 7% Merlot and 2% Cabernet Franc from Columbia Valley vineyards. It aged twenty-two months in 100% French oak. The three-grape blend, red-fruit profile and oak ageing are all part of this Washington red, with herbs, smoke and anise also present.
Morgenster 2014 Estate Reserve Red
South African Red
Berries, smoke, prune, walnut and chocolate appear with ripe plum, blackberry and blueberry. Oak spice, dates and herbs add further detail, alongside firm tannins and vigorous acidity. Cacao nib is recorded on the finish. The blend is 36% Cabernet Sauvignon, 36% Merlot, 14% Cabernet Franc and 14% Petit Verdot, and the wine comes from Stellenbosch.
Agricola Punica 2016 Montessu Isola dei Nuraghi 1.5 L
Italian Red
Deep ruby in colour, with intense fruit aromas and liquorice. The palate is elegant and full-bodied. The blend is 60% Carignan, with Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot and Syrah each at 10%. Dark berry, lavender and black tea add further detail. Round, velvety tannins and a flavourful finish accompany the wine's juicy, deep Sardinian profile.
Spring Valley Vineyard 2014 Frederick Walla Walla Valley Red
American Red
Blackberry, almond paste, liquorice and vanilla appear with rich fruit and firm tannins. Black cherry, plum, dusty spice, olive and mocha add further detail. Muscular structure and polished tannins are also recorded. The Walla Walla Valley blend combines 57% Cabernet Sauvignon, 22% Cabernet Franc, 13% Merlot, 5% Petit Verdot and 3% Malbec in this estate red wine.
Viña Montes 2009 Montes Alpha M Colchagua Valley
Chilean Red
Dark wild-berry confit, ripe cherry and herbal savouriness lead the documented profile, joined by eucalyptus and cocoa. The palate is juicy and complex, with vivid, integrated tannins carrying the wine through a fruit-led finish. The recorded blend is predominantly Cabernet Sauvignon, supported by Cabernet Franc, Merlot and Petit Verdot. Deep colour and pronounced acidity are also recorded.
Continuum Estate Novicium 2019 Sage Mountain Vineyard Red
American Red
Black fruit leads a vibrant, direct profile, with dark chocolate, brown spice and savoury tapenade adding depth. The palate opens plush and weighted through the middle, yet refined tannins keep the texture controlled. Graphite and an iron-like mineral note give the fruit a firm, volcanic edge without making the wine severe. Powerful but approachable, it finishes bright and persistent, with spice and mineral structure carrying the length.
Ornellaia 2021 Bolgheri Superiore
Italian Red
Mediterranean herbs, cypress berries and blackberry open a rich, expressive nose. The palate is concentrated yet precise, with dark fruit and dense, finely woven tannins balanced by aromatic freshness. Blackcurrant, violet and a light mineral note add lift, while tobacco and wild herbs bring savoury depth. Generous without feeling heavy, it closes with polished texture, vibrant energy and an enduring finish.