Oakville Ranch
Robert’s 2013 Cabernet Franc
I choose to drink Cab Francs like I choose my closest friends: very carefully and only after I’ve gotten to know them well. And so it went with Oakville Ranch’s outstanding Cab Franc named in memory of its founder Robert Miner.
At the end of our fabulous tour of Oakville Ranch Winery and Vineyards last summer (see review posted September 14, 2016), Shelia let us sample some of their wines. When I saw the bottle of Cab Franc waiting to be poured, “I thought to myself “ick”. There’s one I won’t like”. And my thoughts of joining their wine club went down a notch. Most Cab Francs are too sharp- tasting for my palate. Maybe it’s the hint of green pepper so commonly found in them. I’ve really only found a few I’d be willing to drink again. Well now I can add Robert’s 2013 to that list.
I really enjoyed tasting this wine at the winery, although my favorite that day was their Field Blend. My husband thought it was okay, maybe not worthy of its $110 per bottle tariff. And then two bottles came in our wine club shipment last November. Now let me say that often once we get our wine club shipments and open a bottle, they aren’t quite as good as we remembered them. Had we had too much wine that day in Napa before the tasting and thus our decision making capabilities were impaired? Hmm. Maybe. Or maybe the wine didn’t travel from Napa to Texas well? Hmm. Maybe. And knowing that we usually prefer to let our reds age for 5+ years before drinking them, we were reluctant to open anything too early. So with that in mind, we decided anyway to uncork my husband’s least favorite of the Oakville Ranch reds.
Boy, are we glad we made that sober decision! Robert’s 2013 Cab Franc was even better than we remembered it! We did decant it. And while it was decanting, we enjoyed the nose. We smiled at each other after the first sip and then after the second swallow said in unison, “wow”! The wine is rich with flavors of dark fruit, licorice and spice. It has a full mouth feel and a long, complex finish. It hit right in our palate’s “wheel- house”.
The production of the 2013 Robert’s Cabernet Franc is small. So you may want to order it sooner rather than later!
info@oakvilleranch.com
707-944-9665
My husband and I came across this gem years ago while dining at our favorite seafood restaurant in Dallas, Café Pacific. Gruet is offered there by the glass and by the bottle. And back in the day when we are on a tighter budget, we chose this sparkler based on price. Now we return to it each and every time we dine here! We found no need to try another.