2015 Livermore Valley Cabernet Franc - Steven Kent Winery

Wild raspberry, raw jalapeño, fresh cranberry. Red cherry, mint leaf, stemmy boysenberry. Young cedar and dill, green tobacco and briar. Red currant and bilberry shine brightly in the face of pronounced spicy herbaceousness. Bell pepper, green peppercorn, and fresh basil control the scene as just a touch of gravely dark chocolate pokes out its head. Lean and juicy at 13.0% ABV. If you're a fan of big beautiful pyrazines then this wine is HEAVEN. This 2015 Livermore Valley Cabernet Franc by Steven Kent Winery is Loire style yumminess from the bay area of Northern California.

Cabernet Franc in California can sometimes lose its identity. There are a number of producers putting out Cab Franc that seems to be pretending to be Cab Sauv with rich fruit and dense ripeness. This bottling, crafted by Steven Kent Winery using fruit from 2 vineyards in Livermore, is not shy about showing its typicity. Clean and pure berry fruit leads the attack but is immediately overpowered by fresh herbs backed by a subtle wet hay barnyard note. Merely medium in body with medium tannin and medium plus acidity, this stuff is reminiscent of a bottle of Saumur we sipped at a bistro in Paris during our last visit to Europe. Winemaker Steven Kent Mirassou has shown a propensity for creating beautifully restrained old-world style wines and this bottle only confirms our previous experience with his stuff. Gorgeous.