Cabernet franc

Not my experience of France - certainly not true of my father in law just down the road from Mike Tommasi at Six-Fours (and needless to say certainly not true of the Bordelais!)

In my experience France remains very regional in its wine drinking habits with local wines, if they exist, being heavily favoured over other French wines and nobody else really getting look in at all - which I personally can understand: when there is so much available from your own country and when its quality is rising all the time why go for the unknown? Especially as, judging by what little of other country's wines you see on French supermarket shelves, the foreign wine which is available in France is almost invariably limited and inferior to the native product?

The UK is fortunate in having a wide range of choice and a lot of good specialised merchants. I just hope the incresing dominance of supermarkets at one end and the not altogether benign influence of some (foreign) gurus will not change that.

Timothy Hartley

There is a significient amount of Tannet added to Horton CF,

{contrite & humbled mode = ON} Opps... Beg pardon & forgiveness your Lordship. (Scrape of knees........tug of forelock)

I dont have any knowledge of production quantities. I'd have thought no smaller production however, than the Central Otago PN's that rate a mention in this ng. Or The Terraces, which was mentioned in connection with a recent OE.

{mode=toggle} ClearV do have a web presence, so some may have escaped. Not on the cult lists however, so probably not going to be lugged out of NZ. Could be the 2-3 bottles I have are some of the last in captivity.

cheers greybeard

As I type I am drinking 2003 Chateau de Fesles Anjou, which I was told was cabernet franc. It has a vanilla and raspberry nose with a pleasant trace of earthiness. Tannins substantial but not over the top, nicely balanced acidity. On the palate, the fruit is more cassis or cranberry than raspberry. US$12, good QPR IMO. My only other experience with CF varietals is with Washington wines, which are also good, but richer -- more fruity-spicy style.

Andy

????? My comment was not supposed to be, in any way, disparaging - merely informative.

I am just an occasional visitor to Clearview - actually, their vineyard restaurant is one of the better ones in NZ. I have spent a few afternoons sampling their hospitality and wines - usually in the company of an overseas guest or two.

I know, first hand, that they have bottled just 4 barriques (i.e. 1,100 or so bottles) of their 2004 Reserve Cabernet Franc.

Again, I did not insinuate that the Clearview CS did not rate a mention based on its tiny production; in fact, the reverse is true - it rates much more than a mention.

However, considering that one can count the number of NZ correspondents on this ng on one hand, my post was informing any interested parties, if they wanted to try wines such as the Clearview Reserve CS (or indeed the Esk Valley Terraces or other wines made in very small quantities) then one would indeed have to travel to these fair shores, and not count on finding them at their local market - wherever it may be.

May well be - although Clearview say that this wine *may* be cellared for up to ten years, imnsho, I would be looking at drinking my (low acid, low tannin) '98 sooner rather than later.

-- st.helier

] What do you folks think of Cabernet Franc, as a varietal for drinking ] rather than blending? What do you like to eat with it? It's kind of ] hard to find, but I like it when I do. ]

Jose,

We're rolling in cepes right now, and even with filling the freezer they appear in virtually every meal.

Had a Ch. La Perruche 'Le Chaumont' '03 Saumur-Champigny with chicken livers and cepes in port sauce, the match was truly excellent. And not an easy plate to match with red, either. Both wine and dish were really flattered.

-E