Happy New Year! Welcome to Being Franc.

Vol.1, No.1 | A foreword, if you will...

Beginning, again.

I don’t know why I get myself all worked up about the idea of writing, but I do. I write all the time. I write scripts for videos, I write posts on my website and on social media, I write emails, I write all kinds of things. But this feels different, hard, and scary, which is why I’m doing it.

I have long been a follower of the work of Seth Godin. I’ve been reading his daily emails from his blog for over 8 years now, and for 2024 he created a Page-a-Day calendar focused on “shipping” (as he calls it) creative work, and the entry for today, January 1st, is as follows:

Beginning is underrated.

Merely beginning.

With inadequate preparation, because you will never be fully prepared.

With imperfect odds of success, because the odds are never perfect.

Begin. With the humility of someone who’s not sure, and the excitement of someone who knows it’s possible.

For the last three years, Cab Franc Chronicles has existed almost exclusively on Instagram. I chose this platform because I wanted to connect with people who share my love of Cabernet Franc and wanted to learn more about this grape variety. I also chose Instagram because the thought of a traditional “blog” scared me. Every time I tried to launch Cab Franc Chronicles as a blog prior to October 2020, I would freeze up as I would attempt to write. Riddled with self-doubt, I constantly got in my own way. Overly self-conscious about the words, the photos, the prose. I would stare blankly at a screen, unable to say the things I wanted to say, because the words just didn’t come out.

So, one day, I thought, well heck, Instagram allows videos, maybe I’ll just record a video of me talking about a wine I like and post that instead. For some reason, that came easier. And with a handful of videos, I officially launched my Instagram on December 4th, 2020.

Over time, as I dove down the Cabernet Franc rabbit hole, my videos got progressively longer, more detailed, more in-depth. It was taking me longer to research them, figure out what I wanted to say, compile my thoughts, prepare and record. At the beginning I was doing a few videos a week. In my first full year of Cab Franc Chronicles, I posted 54 videos. And, in 2023, I posted 24 videos (not bad, really, considering the year I had).

But as the year was coming to a close and I posted my 126th “Cab Franc du Jour,” I realized that I didn’t get to talk about nearly all the wines I wanted to during the year and I needed another way to share these stories without the character limitations and fleeting nature of an Instagram post, but that didn’t terrify me like the idea writing a blog.

So here we are.

While this newsletter is an extension of Cab Franc Chronicles on Instagram, and I could’ve easily made this first post a write up about a wine, a producer, etc., a post like this feels like the appropriate “beginning” in a way, creating a degree of chronological flow my brain needs, while also providing a bit of context as to how I’ve arrived at this point.

What is Being Franc?

I’m calling it a newsletter, because I’m not really sure what else to call it. But essentially this will be a space for me to share EVEN MORE about Cabernet Franc, and do so in a concise, thoughtful, and relaxed way.

It is also a way for me to establish a routine with writing. A newsletter implies a certain degree of regularity, and it creates a mutual expectation between the reader and I.

My mission for this remains true to what I have sought to do from the beginning - to talk about Cabernet Franc as the STAR variety that it is. As a subscriber, you can expect write-ups on wines I’m enjoying, producers, regions, etc. There will be the occasional nerdy sidebar or expanded piece of content from a video post that is more easily communicated in written form. There will no doubt be the odd post or rambling on something in the Cabernet Franc universe that has piqued my curiosity.

This Substack also will serve to communicate what I’m working on, if I have any upcoming events or trips planned, things of that nature.

I want this to be a space for Cabernet Franc education and conversation that is not crippled by algorithms, spam, ads and social media noise.

Rituals and Routines

For better or for worse, I am a creature of habit. I thrive when I have rituals and routines for my day-to-day life, but I have also learned they help me creatively. Over the last three years, creating a practice of producing videos has helped me grow as a person and as a wine professional, and it has fuelled my fire creatively.

To keep the Cab Franc conversation flowing, it is my intention to post something here every Friday. It could be a short blurb about a wine I had on a Tuesday night, or it may be something longer and more in-depth. But my commitment to you is consistency, clarity and thoughtfulness with whatever it is that I decide to write and share.

Thank You

For the handful of you that might be reading this, thank you for your attention, enthusiasm and support. I hope your first day of 2024 was a restorative one. The first “official” Being Franc will come this Friday, January 5th. There is a lot to look forward to for the year ahead, and I am grateful to have you with me on this nerdy journey through the world of Cabernet Franc.

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