The Auswine Forum

I recently had a bottle of Goonawarra Cab franc from Sunbury ! Can anyone tell me what other winemakers are releasing a varietal cab franc these days ??

Cheers

I think Happs/Three Hills winery in MR does.

Cheers,

Monghead.

I think Jenke from the Barossa do one

These wineries have all made Cab Franc in recent vintages:

Barossa Ridge Wine Estate
Black Swan Wines
Bulong Estate
Chalk Hill
Chatsfield
Eppalock Ridge
Garlands
Grassy Point Wines
Heritage Estate
Jarvis Estate
Jenke Vineyards
Jinks Creek Winery
Leabrook Estate
Montgomery's Hill
Old Loddon Wines
Paracombe Wines
Redgate
Ross Hill Vineyard
Sally's Paddock
St Leonards Vineyard
Steels Creek Estate
Swooping Magpie
Tahbilk
Tamborine Estate Wines
Tamburlaine
Woodlands

The Three Hills would be the best I have come across.

clearview estate hawkes bay does/did them

they are the best kiwi examples i think

C

I've heard good things about the Woodlands one, but I think it's pricey from memory.

What do you mean a Coonawarra Cab Franc from Sunbury? Please explain...

Winelover wrote:What do you mean a Coonawarra Cab Franc from Sunbury? Please explain...

That's Goonawarra, a winery near Sunbury, Vic. Time to see the optometrist?

Craig(NZ) wrote:clearview estate hawkes bay does/did them

they are the best kiwi examples i think

C

Clearview still do them -- tasted the '06 at the winery & bought a couple of bottles a few weeks back. Have had a couple of '98s recently & it's drinking nicely.

Clearview's neigbours, Beach House also do a good Cab Franc ("The Track") but grown on the Gimblett Gravels (I think) rather than Te Awanga.

Cheers
Peter

Clearview still do them -- tasted the '06 at the winery & bought a couple of bottles a few weeks back. Have had a couple of '98s recently & it's drinking nicely.

i remember trying the 98 at the winery one summers day when it was sweltering hot - i mean australia hot.....was damn good. didnt buy any as i already had a boot load of 98's from previous pitstops...but it was very good as were all of there 98 reds

Last week I had two bottles of amazing Cab Franc, both produced by "Clos Rougeard". A '97 'Le Bourg' and a '96 'le Poyeax'.
They were both really serious wines, definately worth scraping the surface for if you truely get into great wine...
They come from Samuar Champigny, Loire Valley.

I recall having a half-bottle of relatively modestly priced vino over dinner whilst in the Loire last year and was informed it was largly cab franc. It was quite a revelation, such a relaxed, shapely wine without pretention but full of varietal character and vigour. One of those experiences when you discover how well an otherwise unappealling wine can be superb in it's rightful place... like Hunter semillon, for example.

Thaks RB. Hadn't heard of it before...

Disclaimer: I'm not ITB but I know the owners of the following winery well.

I think Paracombe wines does a fantastic Cab Franc (probably their best wine IMO). It has a real French look about it. A bit like a good St Emillion.

Tony

Bick,
Thank you for the response. I was thinking of getting together a few Cab Franc's for a comparitave tasting with some friends. The list you have supplied was way more than I was expecting ! I should be able to source a fair few of them. My memories of Chatsfield ( WA) was that it was an unwooded style, more like Loire ? Have you , ( or anyone) tried the Chatsfield lately ??
Any of what you have listed would you recommend ??

Thanks for your help

cheers

Bick wrote:These wineries have all made Cab Franc in recent vintages:

Barossa Ridge Wine Estate
Black Swan Wines
Bulong Estate
Chalk Hill
Chatsfield
Eppalock Ridge
Garlands
Grassy Point Wines
Heritage Estate
Jarvis Estate
Jenke Vineyards
Jinks Creek Winery
Leabrook Estate
Montgomery's Hill
Old Loddon Wines
Paracombe Wines
Redgate
Ross Hill Vineyard
Sally's Paddock
St Leonards Vineyard
Steels Creek Estate
Swooping Magpie
Tahbilk
Tamborine Estate Wines
Tamburlaine
Woodlands

kwine wrote:Bick,
Thank you for the response. I was thinking of getting together a few Cab Franc's for a comparitave tasting with some friends. The list you have supplied was way more than I was expecting ! I should be able to source a fair few of them. My memories of Chatsfield ( WA) was that it was an unwooded style, more like Loire ? Have you , ( or anyone) tried the Chatsfield lately ??
Any of what you have listed would you recommend ??

Thanks for your help

cheers

Bick wrote:These wineries have all made Cab Franc in recent vintages:

Barossa Ridge Wine Estate
Black Swan Wines
Bulong Estate
Chalk Hill
Chatsfield
Eppalock Ridge
Garlands
Grassy Point Wines
Heritage Estate
Jarvis Estate
Jenke Vineyards
Jinks Creek Winery
Leabrook Estate
Montgomery's Hill
Old Loddon Wines
Paracombe Wines
Redgate
Ross Hill Vineyard
Sally's Paddock
St Leonards Vineyard
Steels Creek Estate
Swooping Magpie
Tahbilk
Tamborine Estate Wines
Tamburlaine
Woodlands

...and the best one is omitted from the above list...Wantirna Estate Hannah ($115) pricey but damn good ....Benchmark stuff..

sanjay

TheTahbilk Cab Franc I had a couple of years ago was fantastic, but I think it is only available at the cellar door.

Bought some Peter Lehmann 1999 Cab Franc a couple of years ago in one of their end of bin sales. Pleasant and something different.

deleted - later post

TN: `03 Cabernet Franc Alder Ridge Vineyard, Chatter Creek Columbia Valley Washington.

Small garage-type operation, last year I posted on an excellent Syrah.
Good natural cork, 13.7% alc, opened and decanted for one hour. No sediment noted, $26 Cdn.

C. Medium garnet, starting to show some light orange on rim. Thinnish intense centre.

N. Quite big aromas fill the room initially. Slight hints of tea and green pepper but nice cherry and herbs. Interesting to see what developes overnight.

P. Initial mouthfeel entry is tangy, smooth, soft tannins, juicy acidity.
Lengthy finish which gets more refreshing. Vibrant blackberry and later some blueberry. Plum here after 3 hrs when it really shows its stuff! Not sure how typical this one is but it ain`t green, has no green pepper/vegetative tones! Its very nice and great with Mancheqo cheese from Portugal. Am I supposed to find jalopena peppers here?

tonsta wrote:Disclaimer: I'm not ITB but I know the owners of the following winery well.

I think Paracombe wines does a fantastic Cab Franc (probably their best wine IMO). It has a real French look about it. A bit like a good St Emillion.

Tony

I think you have the right attitude! Just picked up 3 bottles as winemaker in town right now. $38 Cdn, cellar for 4 yrs? He also had other reds plus the `08 P Gris. Excellent!

Sharkey wrote:TheTahbilk Cab Franc I had a couple of years ago was fantastic, but I think it is only available at the cellar door.

I haven't had a Tahbilk cab franc for perhaps 5+ years but really enjoyed the bottles I had back then. I've seen a number posts about this wine that have almost all been quite positive.

All of Tahbilk's cellar door wines are available to Tahbilk Wine Club members, discounted 10% and free freight. There are special offers to Club members that are discounted even more. Sometimes there are cellar door only wine offers such as the current 2007 reds doz that includes, amongst a number of cellar door varietals, cab franc. Others are malbec, tempranillo, sangiovese, merlot plus a couple of Dalfarras shiraz 2005.

Tahbilk wines are generally quite varietal, regional and reflect the vintage (terroir?). Some are better than others, depending on your palate, but there are few that wouldn't rate as very good anyway.

Cheers

daz

Creed wines in the Barossa have 2 cab franc blends. The Pretty Miss is a shiraz/cab franc/viognier blend, and the Marque is a merlot/cab franc blend. I've had both, and very much liked them.

Gee I know the guy but should mention that Blue Poles in Margaret River produce a merlot/Cabernet Franc. More St Emilion as opposed to Loire though.

However, the barrel samples of the cabernet franc alone from the 2007 vintage are seriously good. I wonder if they will release some separately

cheers

Carl

In addition to the other Kiwi samples, there is Mills Reef Elspeth Cabernet Franc from Hawkes Bay I've tasted the 2002, 2004 and 2005 - gorgeous wines.

Kin Crawford used to. Earlier this year I had the Kim Crawford SP Hawkes Bay Cabernet Franc Merlot 2002 - which was amazingly fragrant -as CF should be and just starting to hit its straps.

There are a lot more Cab Franc dominant blends around than there used to be, too.

sue makes a good point. it is hard to go past the Mills Reef Elspeth Cab Franc