2017 Santa Ynez Cabernet Franc - Carr Winery

Silky dark cherry, roasted poblano pepper, ripe blueberry. Plush boysenberry, bay leaf, black currant compote. Damson plum, blackberry purée, and anise liqueur highlight a impressively rich and creamy attack beautifully permeated by pipe tobacco, grilled jalapeño, and a spattering of warm pyrazinic charm. Blooming violet and pungent rose emerge to impart a striking floral overlay that cannot drown out the presence of sage, fresh basil, and fragrant herbs. Hints of cinnamon, vanilla, and nutmeg lead a dusting of delicate baking spices that are further bolstered in decadence by Swiss chocolate, caramel, and café au lait. Ripe, plush, and velvety on the palate; exhibiting great balance and excellent typicity expressed in an overtly new world style. Full bodied with pronounced yet smooth tannin and pleasantly elevated acidity. This 2017 Santa Ynez Valley Cabernet Franc by Carr Winery is a modern and mouth-filling red from Santa Barbara County.

While the coastal reaches of Santa Barbara County are producing some of the world's greatest Pinot and Chardonnay, the region's warmer inland valleys are also home to some absolutely exceptional yet slightly different viticulture. This bottling, crafted by Carr Winery using Cabernet Franc sourced from 2 select sites in the eastern Santa Ynez Valley, brilliantly showcases Santa Barbara's propensity to shape excellent wine from virtually any grape variety. Aided by warmer temperatures in the east that have allowed it to be made in a ripe and plush style, this wine exhibits silky and rich-fruited decadence bathed in in a gorgeous medley of Cab Franc's textbook green herbal charm. It is soft and velvety in the mouth as well as impressively structured - certainly promising years of pleasant development despite being quite irresistible today.