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WineSmith Lake County Cabernet Franc 3-Pack

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(3) - 2010 WineSmith Cabernet Franc, Lake County, 750ml

Visit the WineSmith Wines website

2010 WineSmith Cabernet Franc, Lake County
Selected by Dan Berger as the best Cabernet Franc in the United States and entered in the Six Nations New World Wine Competition among the top 100 wines to represent the U.S.
 
The father of Cabernet Sauvignon, this grape is among the most challenging to work with and seldom is bottled as a pure varietal. Its great vigor requires bright sunlight and a limiting soil to prevent excessive fruit shading, but its delicate aromas will also easily burn off.
 
Diamond Ridge is located in a sunny high altitude site with rocky granitic soils which force Cabernet Franc to put its energy into pushing its roots down into the rock, resulting in a lively mineral energy in the wine’s finish. These conditions develop good color and firm but refined tannins which impart amazing age-worthiness.
 
Because of its proximity to Clear Lake, the site is also blessed with a “lake effect” -- a daily visit from the cooling breezes off this deep body of water, largest in the State. The consequence is that the plum and cinnamon aromas the grape develops are conserved. The combination of rich fruit aromatics, firm tannin structure and lively minerality make this among the most complete and collectible expressions of Cabernet Franc in the New World.
 
The 2010 was harvested on October 16, fermented traditionally with extended maceration, and aged in neutral cooperage for 72 months to resolve its incredible reductive strength. For roundness and fat, we co-fermented with 22% Merlot. Age has added a tobacco bouquet to its spicy cherry and rosemary aromas which resemble a well-aged Graves. The resulting palate possesses a sweet core of fruit which is framed by soft tannins and a bright mineral finish.
 
A perfect accompaniment to steak béarnaise or wild mushroom dishes, the wine loves open fires and Bruce Springsteen’s Jungleland.
 
Cabernet Franc is the supreme manifestation of finesse, energy and depth.  Bright white cherry aromas have been joined by savory bouquet elements of leather, tobacco and Romano through 72 months’ aging in neutral French oak.  Its silky tannins and lively minerality are characteristic of Diamond Ridge’s high altitude, lake cooled granite terroir.


The father of Cabernet Sauvignon, this grape is among the most challenging to work with and seldom is bottled as a pure varietal.  Its great vigor requires bright sunlight and a limiting soil to prevent excessive fruit shading, but its delicate aromas will also easily burn off. Diamond Ridge is located in a sunny high altitude site with rocky granitic soils which force Cabernet Franc to put its energy into pushing its roots down into the rock, resulting in a lively mineral energy in the wine’s finish.  These conditions develop good color and firm but refined tannins which impart amazing age-worthiness.

Because of its proximity to Clear Lake, the site is also blessed with a “lake effect” -- a daily visit from the cooling breezes off this deep body of water, largest in the State.   The consequence is that the plum and cinnamon aromas the grape develops are conserved.   The combination of rich fruit aromatics, firm tannin structure and lively minerality make this among the most complete and collectible expressions of Cabernet Franc in the New World.

Specs

  • 78% Cabernet Franc Clone 1
  • Estate vineyard, Clear Lake AVA
  • Harvested 16 October
  • 24.2 Brix
     
  • 22% Merlot Clone 181
  • Estate vineyard, Clear Lake AVA
  • Harvested 31 October
  • 23.5 Brix
Fermentation techniques:
  • Anchor NT112 yeast
  • 7.5 g/L untoasted Alliers chips
  • 14-day maceration
Elevage details:
  • Three weeks microbüllage pre ML
  • 72 months in neutral French oak
  • Alcohol sweet spot at 13.7%
  • pH 3.82 at bottling
  • Production: 124 Cases

Specs

  • 78% Cabernet Franc Clone 1
  • Estate vineyard, Clear Lake AVA
  • Harvested 16 October
  • 24.2 Brix
     
  • 22% Merlot Clone 181
  • Estate vineyard, Clear Lake AVA
  • Harvested 31 October
  • 23.5 Brix
Fermentation techniques:
  • Anchor NT112 yeast
  • 7.5 g/L untoasted Alliers chips
  • 14-day maceration
Elevage details:
  • Three weeks microbüllage pre ML
  • 72 months in neutral French oak
  • Alcohol sweet spot at 13.7%
  • pH 3.82 at bottling
  • Production: 124 Cases

Vendor Details

WineSmith Cellars

Owner:
Clark Smith
Founded:
1993
Location:
Sebastopol, CA

Visit the WineSmith Wines website

Clark Smith is an MIT drop-out who wandered out to California in 1972 and sold wine retail in the Bay Area for several years, where he acquired a love of Bordeaux, Burgundy and all things French and observed first hand the California winery explosion in the 1970s.  After a three year stint at Veedercrest Vineyards, he secured enology training at UC Davis and spent the 1980s as founding winemaker for The R.H. Phillips Vineyard in Yolo County.  In 1990, he founded WineSmith Consulting and patented a group of new winemaking techniques involving reverse osmosis, spinning off Vinovation, which went on to become the world’s largest wine production consulting firm over its 17-year history.

Frustrated with California’s winemaking trends, Clark started WineSmith Cellars in 1993 as a teaching winery to make Eurocentric wines to explore traditions beyond the mainstream, expanding for his winemaking clients the range of possibility for California fruit.  Choosing to create long-term partnerships with committed growers rather than growing his own grapes, Clark has become an renowned expert on Cabernet Franc, having vinified twenty vintages from a wide variety of sites.

Teaching at Napa Valley College gave him access to the Student Vineyard for Faux Chablis and his Pauillac-style $100 “Crucible” Cabernet Sauvignon.  From Renaissance Vineyards in North Yuba County he has made a sulfite-free Roman Syrah and also produces a Pinot Noir from Fiddlestix Vineyard in the Santa Rita Hills in a delicate, age-worthy Côtes de Beaune style.  These wines are vinified in an ancient beat-up warehouse in Sebastopol, California.

WineSmith wines are noted for their longevity, classic balance, structural integrity, minerality and understated soulfulness.  They often are aged extensively prior to release.  When drinking a WineSmith wine, always ask yourself “What is this wine trying to teach me?”  Clark is a vocal advocate of living soil and graceful longevity, and generally avoids excessive oak, alcohol, or extended hang-time.  He is not shy about employing new tools when they are needed, such as alcohol adjustment to bring fruit into balance or micro-oxygenation to build refined structure, but always fully discloses techniques which are controversial and is outspoken in explaining his rationale.

His book, Postmodern Winemaking, is the culmination of four decades of reflection on wine’s true nature.

Sales Stats

Speed to First Woot:
0m 23.770s

Purchaser Experience

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Quantity Breakdown

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Woots by State

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WineSmith Lake County Cabernet Franc (3)
$64.99 Sold Out Food, Beverages & Tobacco > Beverages > Wine
$64.99 USD false 1 Retail EA
1 3