Early Mountain, 2019 Quaker Run Vineyard Cabernet Franc, Virginia, USA
Cab Franc du Jour #105
Early Mountain’s story begins in 2005 with the first vineyards established by Jess and Sharon Sweely. The property was purchased by Jean and Steve Case in 2010, and the winery opened its doors in 2012. Winemaker Maya Hood White, a California native who studied at UC Davis, joined the Early Mountain team in 2014, became assistant winemaker in 2017, and assumed the role of head winemaker with the 2022 vintage.
Early Mountain farms 55 acres of vineyards, of which 8.6 acres (about 3.5 hectares) are planted with Cabernet Franc, and they also work with select growers for additional bottlings such as their Shenandoah Springs. While relatively new on the Virginia wine scene, they have quickly established themselves as one of the state’s leading producers and are among its most passionate advocates for Cabernet Franc. In addition to single-varietal bottlings, the grape finds its way into the estate’s sparkling rosé, still rosé, and various red blends. From the 2019 vintage alone, five different single-varietal Cabernet Francs were released, which speaks clearly to the estate’s commitment to the variety.
Virginia
Virginia is a large and geologically diverse wine-producing state, stretching over 600km from east to west and nearly 300km from north to south at its widest points. Grapes are grown in nearly every corner of the state, across 10 principal growing regions and 8 official AVAs, at latitudes between 36N and 39N, roughly equivalent to southern Portugal and southwestern Spain in European terms.
The state’s climate is shaped primarily by two geographical features: the Atlantic Ocean to the east and the Appalachian Mountains, specifically the Blue Ridge range, to the west. The Atlantic’s influence brings higher precipitation and humidity, with annual rainfall typically ranging from 1,000 to 1,200mm distributed fairly consistently through the year. Summers are warm too hot with elevated humidity. The overall character is moderate maritime, shifting toward greater continentality as you move inland, with cooler temperatures and lower precipitation further west. The combination of precipitation and humidity is one of the defining constraints on variety selection across the state.
Moving westward, the Blue Ridge Mountains divide central Virginia’s Piedmont region on the eastern side from the Valley and Ridge and Appalachian Plateau zones to the west. That mountain range also shapes the elevation range across the state, with vineyards sitting anywhere from around 100 to 425m above sea level, with the majority concentrated between 150 and 275m. The foothills influence aspect, sun exposure, slope gradient, and drainage, all of which become important factors in site selection.
Virginia’s geology is equally varied, encompassing nearly every soil type imaginable. Four broad groups can be identified: clays and silts of the Coastal Plain in the east; predominantly metamorphic soils such as gneiss, schists, and slate across the Piedmont, with pockets of volcanic origin including granites; ancient sandstones, granites, greenstones, and gneiss in the Blue Ridge foothills; and sandstones, shales, limestones, and dolostones west of the Blue Ridge. This diversity of elevations, aspects, slopes, soils, and a moist, humid environment makes site selection critical, which partly explains why over 28 grape varieties are grown across the state.
Of the approximately 4,300 acres (1,700 hectares) under vine, most plantings are concentrated in the Central and Northern Virginia regions. Cabernet Franc is, perhaps surprisingly, the single most planted variety in the state, having surpassed Chardonnay in 2021 to reach approximately 645 acres (260 hectares), representing about 15% of total vineyard area. It is not difficult to see why. Cabernet Franc appears to adapt well to moderate, maritime, and moist environments, as demonstrated in Bordeaux, Irouléguy, and Uruguay, among others. The key in Virginia is finding the right sites: warm but not hot, with good sun exposure to minimize pyrazines, and deeper soils that balance drainage, moisture retention, and vigour.
The Quaker Run Vineyard
The Quaker Run Vineyard is located about 22km north of the winery, at the northern end of the Central Virginia region in Madison County, roughly 48km north-northeast of Charlottesville on the eastern side of the Blue Ridge Mountains. The vineyard is well inland from the Atlantic and sits in the foothills of the Blue Ridge at an elevation of around 290m above sea level. That combination of inland position and elevation produces a meaningful diurnal temperature range, with cool evenings tempering warm days, slowing ripening and preserving acidity. The south-facing slope, at a moderate grade of around 20%, ensures good sun exposure throughout the later stages of ripening to help minimise pyrazines, while the gradient also promotes excellent drainage.
The soils are colluvial in origin, derived through erosion, and belong to the Unison soil series: a deep, well-draining sandy clay-loam with high rock and mineral diversity, carrying a combination of materials typical of higher-elevation foothills including shales, sandstones, and limestones. Maya described the constant airflow the site receives as another defining feature, and noted that in a short time since planting, Cabernet Franc has adapted remarkably well here, demonstrating a very distinctive profile. The estate has since pulled out other varieties originally planted at the site in favour of additional Cabernet Franc plantings.
The block was established in 2015 as part of the winery’s vineyard expansion, covering 1.25 hectares of Cabernet Franc with both Clone 214 and Clone 327, the Loire and Bordeaux clones respectively.
In the Cellar
The fruit is hand-harvested in two separate picks from the east and west blocks of the vineyard. Fermentation is 20% whole cluster with the remainder destemmed, in stainless steel, with a total skin contact of approximately three to four weeks. The wine is then aged in larger, predominantly neutral French oak of 500L to 1,000L for approximately 16 months before bottling.
Wine Details
Producer: Early Mountain Vineyards
Region: Virginia, USA
AVA: Central Virginia (Madison County)
Vineyard: Quaker Run Vineyard
Soils: Colluvium sandy clay-loam (part of the Unison soil series), with high percentage of rocks/stones
Alcohol: 13.5%