Reserve Cabernet Franc
2020 Reserve Cabernet Franc
What a rollercoaster ride the 2020 vintage was – and similar to the queuing at Disneyworld for 2 hours, once you got on it is over in what feels like a matter of seconds. Spring was warm, but not especially so but December in 2019 was super-hot, hotter than we have records of in the vineyard, absolutely relentless. This “pushed” the vines across the region very much ahead of schedule. Chardonnays were then coming off in January and reds by mid-February – madness and very much a massive arm waving exercise as Covid had turned up and borders were clanging shut like jail doors.
We had picked the Merlot on 13 March, and all set to pick off the Cabernet Franc on 19 March, and then it basically bucketed down for two days – Sunday and Monday (15 and 16 March) – nearly 2 inches in the old scale and the grapes just had a drink and boom down went the sugar and flavour overnight. Plan B came into effect – wait it out until it came back into balance and fortunately the weather cleared, a good dose of heat came through on 22 and 23 March and off came the nets for a pick on 24 March. If the weather had stayed steady the pick would have been earlier, and the due to the lateness the grapes picked were a little “precious” with skins very thin and hanging on by a thread it seemed.
This is a wine that is not loud and abrupt – it is conversationalist. It is a wine that on every pour gives you a different perspective of the same topic and keeps you mesmerized – and it can do it for days. I had a bottle opened for my birthday and over the following three days I went back for a glass and each time it wowed me – and all for different reasons. First night was the aromas, second was the structure and balance, third was the fruit and length – wonderful compelling stuff.
The fruit was severely thinned, prior to veraison, and handpicked early one morning. Any grapes that were considered not good “enough to eat” were dropped on the ground. The technical data on these grapes are as below:
Cabernet Franc: Picked 24 March 2020
Total weight 2.0t
Baume 12.6
pH 3.4
TA 5.4
Wine Review
Gary Walsh – July 2022 (The WineFront)
“I do love Cabernet Franc. This from Mark Gifford: iconoclast, curmudgeon, sweary bear and all round interesting fellow. I’m guessing there may not be a Reserve Merlot from 2020?
A mix of red, blue, and black fruit, pencils and baking spice, dried flower perfume, cocoa powder and sweet tobacco. It’s medium-bodied, tastes more of red fruits, with a fine mesh of ripe tannin, feels subtly sweet, yet savoury too, and has a long finish offering plenty of fine grip and succulence, and a whole lot of charm. It’s a very good release.”
Rated: 94+ Points
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2019 Reserve Cabernet Franc
Dry. That was the 2019 vintage. With the outcome being very small berries, very small tonnages, and super dense flavours and thick unctuous tannins. Picked in April and with all of the natural acid preserved the wines were destined to become classically styled wines. And how!
On opening you feel a weight of fruit lift above the rim – not just the Cabernet Franc violets and spice that usually reach you first – more of a concentrate of cassis and blueberry which lies like a deep dark floor from which the lighter flavours move up and float above. Coaxed from the glass becomes the spice and florals that whisper rather than yell. Tasting it for the first time you note the deep richness as it rolls from front to back, tannins taking space and squaring off this sinistral wind of fruit and acid. The length is the fruit flavours you can hint upon at every step – blackcurrant and blueberry roll down the line.
The fruit was severely thinned, prior to veraison, and handpicked early one morning. Any grapes that were considered not good “enough to eat” were dropped on the ground. The technical data on these grapes are as below:
Cabernet Franc: Picked 5 April 2019
Total weight 3.144t
Baume 14.1
pH 3.4
TA 6.5
Wine Review
Gary Walsh – April 2021 (The WineFront)
“I like the 2019 red wines from Margaret River. I find the best examples to have an extra dimension of small berried intensity, and ‘minerality’, for want of a better word.
Blackcurrant, raspberry, dried flower perfume, pencils, a flutter of aniseed and dried herb. It’s tight and compact, with a distinct ‘mineral’ and slate feel, firm cool glassy acidity, all the pencil and a little baking spice. Tannin is firm and gravelly on a long fresh finish. Coiled up, sophisticated, no excess. Pretty serious in 2019, and one of the best releases to date for my tastes.”
Rated: 95 Points
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2018 Reserve Cabernet Franc
2018 was a perfect Margaret River red wine vintage with budburst and flowering not affected by adverse weather, and a warm but not hot consistent summer range of temperatures making the grapes ripen without stress. A very strong Marri blossom in the surrounding forests kept birds at bay and this ensured undamaged fruit in the bins. As of 16 March, the field sample numbers looked a little riper than the Merlot – but tasting the grapes it was seen to be a false flag. Checking, checking, checking then indicated that the 22nd should capture all that we seek in a top package. Nets off, and mostly Japanese pickers on the day. Another very good year for reds, giving opportunity for solid flavour retention and tannin concentration.
The fruit was severely thinned, prior to veraison, and handpicked early one morning. Any grapes that were considered not good “enough to eat” were dropped on the ground. The technical data on these grapes are as below:
Cabernet Franc: Picked 22 March 2018
Total weight 5,576 kg
Baume 13.7
pH 3.57
TA 5.90
The wine was curated by Clive Otto and Ellin Tritt and fermented in a closed vat and continuously “pumped over” to extract colour and tannins softly, with ferment being completed after 15 days. The wine was pressed and placed in French oak barrels and stored for 22 months.
This wine was made by tasting and retasting every barrel of wine that we had produced from the 2018 vintage and came across a combination of 3 barrels that was simply exemplary. Will last for decades, a perfect example of this grape in the bordelaise style.
Wine Notes and Reviews
What flavour and what aromatics this 2018 Reserve Cabernet Franc produced. This vintage is a true classic and we may not see it’s like for many many years to come. I do not think we have produced better wines overall than in 2018 and this Cabernet Franc may reach the heights of the extraordinary 2014 version that will remain as a beacon for us. A further vote of support from Mike Bennie from WineFront with his review as below:
Mike Bennie – April 2020 (The WineFront)
“So well knit” is the quicksilver thought that slipped in and then out of my brain. Seamless ride of blue fruit, quiet cedary-clove-cinnamon oak, a lick of green herb, bayleaf and mint, almost chocolatey profile to tannins including a little powdery, 70% cocoa dark chocolate thing to finish. Cool, fine, long, tight-shapely and lithe. A very lovely wine that delivers great drinking and elegance."
Rated: 94 Points
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2016 Reserve Cabernet Franc
The selection of this variety only commenced in 2014, and since then it has become an exciting addition to our range, not only because it is a wine of presence and potential longevity, but because it shows what a great wine Cabernet Franc can be when grown in the right location and the right attitude. 2016 was a warm Margaret River red wine vintage with an early budburst with the warmest start to vintage recorded for Blue Poles. We had average temperatures after spring and until picking apart from a slightly warmer January but little in the way of heat extremes – it was however the wettest summer we have recorded with 136mm of rainfall during December - February. In early March the grapes were approaching ripeness 1 week in advance of our usual picking dates, but the early start to the vintage meant the grapes were not reduced in flavour or balance. Another very good year for reds, giving opportunity for solid flavour retention and tannin concentration.
The fruit was severely thinned, prior to veraison, and handpicked early one morning. Any grapes that were considered not good “enough to eat” were dropped on the ground. The technical data on these grapes are as below:
Cabernet Franc: Picked 24 March 2016
Total weight 2,892 kg
Baume 13.8
pH 3.64
TA 5.70
The wine was curated by Clive Otto and Kate Morgan and fermented in a closed vat and continuously “pumped over” to extract colour and tannins softly, with ferment being completed after 14 days. The wine was pressed and placed in French oak barrels and stored for 20 months.
This wine was made by tasting and retasting every barrel of wine that we had produced from the 2016 vintage and came across a combination of 4 barrels that was simply exemplary. Will last for decades and suits spiced lamb rack and smoked brisket as pair of prime examples for an accompaniment to an opened bottle.
Wine Notes and Reviews
The 2016 Reserve Cabernet Franc is a more complete wine than the 2015 in the sense it has a greater weight and strength of character than the more feminine version from last vintage. A more “heroic” wine, which implies it has that tannin profile that matches in with the richness of roast beef and/or the creaminess of a strong cheddar cheese. But, underlying this brashness of tannic youth is a compote of red fruits and that “Franc” note of violets and herbs which sidle in from the top down, making this a really contemplative wine. A further vote of support from Gary Walsh with his review as below:
Gary Walsh – September 2018 (The WineFront)
“It’s a hard act to get a straight Cab Franc going, but when it’s good, it’s often very good.
Red and blackcurrant, slight prune note, mint, pencils and spice. Medium-bodied, grip and grainy tannin, slightly nippy acidity, attractive perfume of dried herbs on a long insistently tannic finish. Needs a couple of years to settle, I feel, but potential here."
Rated: 93+ Points
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2015 Reserve Cabernet Franc
Since 2007 we have selected a Reserve wine from individual varieties at Blue Poles when both the vintage and the variety allows for the wine to be exceptional. As such they represent the best varietal wine that we can produce from our site in the heart of Margaret River. 2015 was a warm Margaret River red wine vintage with an early budburst as spring warmed early, and then followed by a warm dry January and February (but with few heat extremes – steady warmth all the way through). In early March the grapes were approaching ripeness 2 weeks in advance of our usual picking dates, but the early start to the vintage meant the grapes were not reduced in flavour or balance. Two major rain events occurred in the middle of March and we picked the Cabernet Franc immediately after both rain periods before any rain had managed to soak into our dry soil, meaning the grapes came off in exceptional shape. A very good year for reds, giving opportunity for solid flavour retention and tannin concentration.
The fruit was severely thinned prior to veraison, and handpicked early one morning. Any grapes that were considered not good “enough to eat” were dropped on the ground. Only 4 Barrels selected for the Reserve.
The technical data on these grapes are as below:
Cabernet Franc: Picked 19 March 2015
Total weight 3,190 kg
Baume 13.0
pH 3.56
TA 5.10
This was an excellent vintage for our Cabernet Franc in terms of flavour and complexity. The wine was curated by Clive Otto and Kate Morgan and fermented in a closed vat and continuously “pumped over” to extract colour and tannins softly, with ferment being completed after 13 days. The wine was pressed and placed in French oak barrels and stored for 22 months.
This wine was made by tasting and re-tasting every barrel of wine that we had produced from the 2015 vintage and came across a combination of 4 barrels that was simply exemplary. This is the second Reserve Cabernet Franc wine bottled at Blue Poles and it was a wine that continues the quality of our excellent debut. This is a wine that is both fragrant and lifted on the nose, lacey and floral, leading to a beautifully balanced palate with a graceful structure and gorgeous mouthfeel. A beautiful wine from a solid vintage. When opening a bottle consider a meal with game as supporting the experience – roasted deer or duck would be perfect.
Gary Walsh – August 2017 (The WineFront)
“It looks a little light and flighty at first, not in a bad way mind you, but it certainly builds richness and weight as it stands in the glass. Raspberry and boysenberry, biscuit and baking spice, a sniff of sweet herb and grass, perhaps some ground coffee and violet in there too. Medium bodied, vibrant and succulent, bright raspberry pip acidity, spicy earthy oak, gravelly tannin, and a well defined finish of fine length. Linear and refined, the tannin pleasingly assertive on exit. It’s a great thing to drink even now, though should be better again in a few more years."
Rated: 94+ Points
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2014 Reserve Cabernet Franc
Gary Walsh – May 2016 www.winefront.com.au
“The more I taste of 2014 Margaret River reds, the more I come away impressed with the vintage: tannin quality is high. New wine here for Blue Poles, obviously confident enough to bottle this fickle grape solo this vintage. I’m no expert, but it seems it’s a tricky variety to get right. Pick too early and you get too much grassiness. Pick too late and it goes pruney and flat, and loses its perfume. Pick it just right and…
This is supple and succulent with the perfume of the grape, and the bay leaf fragrance of the region rolled in to boot. Redcurrant and boysenberry, dried herbs and baking spices, gentle mocha oak folded in beautifully. Medium bodied with a crispness and bright definition to the fruit, though certainly it’s on the riper side of the Franc spectrum. Tannin spreads out nicely, and feels open-weave, and almost biteable, acidity is clean and nicely threaded, and the finish is long and tweaked by slightly tart red fruits. Fair to say they’ve done very well with this wine. Reckon it will improve and settle with a fair number of years cellaring too.”
Rated : 95 Points
Alcohol : 14%
Price : $40
Closure : Screwcap
Technical Details
When the vintage allows, we generate Reserve wines of individual varieties at Blue Poles, and as such they represent the best varietal wine that we can produce from our site in the heart of Margaret River. 2014 was a classic Margaret River red wine vintage with a cold and wet start to spring conditions, leading into a dry and eventually hot early summer. The conditions in summer were warm and dry with February / March having limited very hot days ensuring that the grapes were perfectly ripe and concentrated in flavour due to the longer season. A great year for reds and whites, giving opportunity for solid flavour retention and tannin concentration.
The fruit was severely thinned prior to veraison, and handpicked early one morning. Any grapes that were considered not good “enough to eat” were dropped on the ground. The technical data on these grapes are as below:
Cabernet Franc: Picked 7 April 2014
Total weight 2194 kg
Baume 13.9
pH 3.51
TA 5.40
This was an exceptional vintage for our Cabernet Franc in terms of flavour and concentration. The wine was curated by Clive Otto and Kate Morgan and fermented in a closed vat and continuously “pumped over” to extract colour and tannins softly, with ferment being completed after 12 days. The wine was pressed and placed in French oak barrels and stored for 20 months.
This wine was made by tasting and retasting every barrel of wine that we had produced from the 2014 vintage and came across a combination of 3 barrels that was simply exemplary. This is the first Reserve Cabernet Franc wine bottled at Blue Poles and it was a wine that had to be made. A wine that is both rich and fragrant on the nose, beguiling if not enticing, leading to a beautifully balanced palate that has length to burn. An exceptional wine from an exceptional vintage. When opening a bottle consider a meal with game as supporting the experience – roasted deer or duck would be perfect.
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