Tried (a whole glass) the 100pt wine tonight - it's exceptional. I cannot not wait until it's bottled. It's in a new 225L French oak barrel - I think I'll bottle this mid-September, which will be about 12 months. Anyone have an opinion?
A 2020 Cab Franc journey with fellow WMT member
- Thread starter NorCal
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Boatboy24
No longer a newbie, but still clueless.
Send a few bottles and I can give you an informed recommendation.
How long has it been in that barrel so far? How do you feel about the level of oak to this point? It will fall back some after you take it out, but were it my wine (and as some other things in life), I'd rather pull it out too early than too late. You can always add more oak later.
Jim, I barred this wine on October 12th, 2020 after it cleared in a Speidel tank for approximately a month. As far as oak, not much right now. French oak imparts oak flavor slower than American, IMO. With clearing and the barrel, it will be about 12 months when I bottle.Send a few bottles and I can give you an informed recommendation.
How long has it been in that barrel so far? How do you feel about the level of oak to this point? It will fall back some after you take it out, but were it my wine (and as some other things in life), I'd rather pull it out too early than too late. You can always add more oak later.
As far as sending wine, I'm glad to attempt it. After it's bottled I'll PM you for a suitable address.
And, I’m likely going to be in your area next year. My wife and I had a trip planned to WDC in April 2020 but circumstantially (CoVid) never able to do the trip. We’ll likely go there in April 2022.
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One of my biggest mistakes up to a few years ago was to over oak wine. I don't want to taste oak when I drink wine, I want to taste the fruit and the different layers of flavors. Too much oak buries all that. A big Petite Sirah can take oak on the chin, but even with French Oak, you can over oak Cab Franc. If you ever get notes of Coffee flavor, it is due to too much French oak, which is what I got on my 2014 Cab Franc in a 30 gallon French Oak barrel. For mid body wines, I now shoot for between 2nd-3rd year new barrel equivalent. Since I use neutral barrels and add oak with spirals, I can control the oakiness pretty closely.
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