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The Wine
Lovely garnet color. In the nose, raspberry jam, cranberries,
and a touch of cloves and white pepper. The wine has as bright
mouth-feel with cherries, raspberries, brown spices and the inherent
briar that distinguishes Cabernet Franc. The finish lingers pleasantly.
A wonderfully versatile wine that pairs nicely with a wide range
of foods, including poultry, pork, lamb, and even some beef entrees!
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The Vintage
The 2001 vintage had about 18 inches of rain, or 60% of normal,
which ended in early March, a warm spring, and a cooler than
average summer that was punctuated by a few hot spots. Put together,
this created a long, relatively cool growing season that gave
the vines ample time to ripen their fruit in an almost leisurely
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Fermentation and Aging
The grapes were picked by hand in multiple lots, destemmed,
and fermented in small lots with hand punch down four times a
day. After pressing, the wine went through malolactic fermentation
and 11 months of barrel aging.
The Vineyard
Our five acres of Cabernet Franc vines date back to the original
stock brought to our “Chaine d’Or” region by
French settler and grape expert Pierre C. Pourroy around the turn
of the century. The Pourroy property became Congress Springs
Winery, as it was known until recent changes of ownership.
Our vines were planted in 1985 with cuttings from Congress Springs
on west-facing slopes at the western edge of our property.
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