Raising the Bar on Cab Franc

Every month at the Purple Space, Wick from Purple Smile Wines here in Bellingham, WA, hosts a tasting for his wine club members. Not only does he showcase the club selections at the tasting but he also has winemakers there to offer other premium wines to taste. To date, the events have been great, but this past Thursday the tasting was exceptional with Washington State being represented by Hightower Cellars and Woodinville Wine Cellars.

Hightower Cellars featured their 2007 Red Mountain Red (Red Mountain) $51, 2007 Pepper Bridge Vineyard (Walla Walla) $30, 2006 Merlot (Horse Heaven) $28, and the 2007 Murray Cuvee (Red Mountain) $20. All were varying degrees of great but I thought the Red Mountain Red, a 78% Cab-22% Merlot blend, was by far their best.

Woodinville Wine Cellars poured their 2007 Little Bear Creek (Columbia Valley) $20 2007 Cab Franc (Columbia Valley) $38, and 2007 Indomitable (Columbia Valley) $40. All three of these wines were truly spectacular as well. But what stole the show was the Cab Franc!

My personal bar for excellent Cab Franc was set back in November 2005 with Schneider Vineyards 2001 Cabernet Franc (Long Island, New York). That was the wine that put Cab Franc at the top of my favorite varietal list and since then I’ve been looking for one that equaled or exceeded it. My search had been in vain until this Woodinville Cellars 2007 Cab Franc danced across my palate and subsequently raised the bar. A small production wine (only 95 cases made), it is 100% Cab Franc sourced from two Columbia Valley Vineyards: Conner Lee and Chandler Reach. It has succulent dark fruit and violets on the nose, with heady blackberry, plum and a hint of spice on the palate. With its pitch perfect balance, luscious mouth feel, and silky long finish, it is very drinkable and yet complex. I don’t remember being this excited about a wine in quite awhile (and I get excited about wine all the time). In fact I was so excited that my non-wine drinking, but nonetheless wonderful, husband, Ira, bought a case of it for my upcoming birthday. (It’s a big one this year. I turn 50!).

So kudos to Woodinville Wine Cellars for its stellar 2007 Cab Franc and a big thanks to Wick at Purple Smile for introducing me to this fabulous wine.