My Most Memorable Cabernet Francs of 2024

No.50 | A Year in Review

Another year in the books! And 2024 was a very rewarding and successful one for Cab Franc Chronicles. In addition to launching (and staying consistent with!) this newsletter, I produced another 25 tasting videos, capping things off with a video featuring the Louis de Grenelle NV Blanc de Noir, the first Loire Valley Cabernet Franc sparkling wine I have featured in over four years.

In addition to the writing and video work, I managed to include not one, not two, but FOUR trips to the Loire Valley to continue my research and activities for Cab Franc Chronicles. In addition to the trade salons in February, I was back in the region in April for a week long immersive visit hosted by the Syndicat des Vins de Chinon to learn more about the region, its culture, history, terroirs and wines. In June, I was honoured to be part of a roundtable called “Cabernet Franc Conquers Bordeaux and the New World” at the 12th edition of La Paulée d’Anjou alongside Pierre-Olivier Clouet, CEO of Château Cheval Blanc, researcher and neurobiologist Gabriel Lepousez and historian Jeanne Yerre. I capped the year off with a final trip to the Loire to catch the tail end of harvest, where I was able to get a first-hand look at the 2024 vintage while it was still very fresh in the minds of the vignerons.

In addition to the visits to the Loire, I managed to make it out to New York’s Hudson Valley in May for the Cab Franc Coalition’s annual tasting, which was my first true introduction to this region’s work with Cabernet Franc. Building on the Hudson Valley’s enthusiasm for the grape, several producers from across New York State have since put Cabernet Franc centre stage as the state’s flagship grape with the launch of the Cab Franc Forward initiative. There are lots of exciting things afoot across New York State with Cabernet Franc!

All in all, it would be an understatement to say that 2024 was a memorable year. Building on the years that have come before, I am going into 2025 equipped with an even greater understanding of and appreciation for Cabernet Franc - from vineyard to bottle - which I look forward to sharing with you in future posts and videos in the year ahead.

Now, without further ado, here is a selection of some of my most memorable wines of 2024.

From the Loire Valley

When I was in Chinon in April, I had the pleasure of attending a dinner hosted by Matthieu Baudry at Nemrod restaurant where he pulled out a handful of wines from the Domaine Bernard Baudry library, including a bottle of the 1997 La Croix Boissée, which was the second vintage this wine was bottled as a cuvée parcellaire. The wine was in a beautiful place in what would often be characterized as a “lighter” or more “delicate” vintage.

Earlier this year I profiled up-and-coming Saumur producer, Etienne Bodet in a tasting video featuring the inaugural bottling of his Clos Durandière. If you are reading this and you don’t know who Etienne Bodet is, this is your wake up call. If there is any vigneron in the region that everyone is talking about, it is Etienne. Though it is early days, he has garnered a great amount of respect and appreciation for his wines, both from the community as well as internationally.

Finally, in June when I was in the Loire Valley, I was privileged to attend a 14 vintage vertical tasting of Domaine du Bel Air’s Clos Nouveau. One of the great vineyard sites in Bourgueil if not the entire Loire for Cabernet Franc, this was a once in a lifetime opportunity, and one that I will never forget. Some of the most memorable vintages included the 2009, 2014 and 2015, but with each vintage that passes, the wines get better and better. If you see these out in the wild, they are worthy additions to your cellar.

From Elsewhere in Europe

At a dinner with friends in Quebec City, I enjoy a 2005 Paleo Rosso from Le Macchiole in Bolgheri. Le Macchiole is the first producer in Bolgheri to bottle a 100% Cabernet Franc, and now there are at least 16 examples of single-varietal Cabernet Franc being produced in the region. This was my first time trying the Paleo Rosso with this much bottle age, and not only was the 2005 in a superb place in its evolution, with beautiful integration of the fruit, oak and structural elements, I successfully guess this wine BLIND at the dinner. A truly satisfying moment!

From the Southern Hemisphere

Earlier this spring, there was a rare LCBO release of South African Cabernet Franc. But not just any South African Cabernet Franc, but the OG - a Raats Family Wines Cabernet Franc. Bruwer Raats is the variety’s flag-bearer in Stellenbosch and South Africa-wide, and a producer I’ve been following for sometime. In addition to getting a chance to stock up on some of the 2020 Cabernet Franc, I finally was able to meet Bruwer in person for the first time at a tasting in Toronto in June - a Cabernet Franc nerd’s dream come true!

Between this newsletter and my videos, I’ve made a concerted effort to taste and feature more wines from South America. One that was a standout this year was the Viña La Rosa Cornellana Volcano Sedimentario Cabernet Franc. Located in the Peumo D.O. in the Cachapoal Valley, Viña La Rosa is working 53 hectares of Cabernet Franc - a staggering one third of the entire Cachapoal Valley’s Cabernet Franc plantings - if that’s not commitment to the variety, I don’t know what is! They have done extensive work to understand their soils to produce an exceptional, terroir-driven Cabernet Franc that has raised the bar for what I seek in Chilean Cabernet Franc.

From North America

Cabernet Franc is the #1 planted variety in Virginia, and while I haven’t had the chance to visit or taste many of the wines, I remain extremely bullish on the potential for the variety in this region. This year, I had the pleasure of enjoying the Grace Estate, 2021 Slope of Grace Cabernet Franc, made by Virginia-native Robbie Corpora. This was love at first sip, and a moment where I immediately said “this guy gets it.” And Robbie does. His passion for this variety - from vineyard to bottle - is unmatched, at least based on what I see and what I've tasted. I firmly believe the only way you can get better at making Cabernet Franc the way the variety should be made is to eat, sleep, and drink the variety, and it is evident that this is what Robbie does. I look forward to following his journey with the variety in the years to come.

I am fortunate to live in Ontario where I have a wealth of delicious Cabernet Francs being produced in my own backyard. And with a string of very strong vintages (2020, 2022, 2023 and 2024) on the shelves and in the cellars of producers across Niagara, there is much to look forward to from this region in the years ahead. Brian Schmidt, winemaker at Vineland Estates, is likely Cabernet Franc’s greatest champion in Ontario. Earlier this year, I featured his Legacy ‘Infinity Vintage’ Cabernet Franc in a tasting video. This innovative bottling is a multi-vintage blend that seeks to express the terroir of the estate’s Bo-Teek Vineyard by essentially eliminating vintage variation. I also had the honour and pleasure of showing this wine as part of a seminar I gave for the vignerons of Chinon in April on Cabernet Franc from around world, and it won over the hearts of the vignerons and perhaps has even inspired some of try a similar approach to winemaking at their domaine.

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THANK YOU to everyone out there who continues to support me on this nerdy journey and enjoys going down the rabbit hole with this grape variety as much as I do. There is much to look forward to in 2025! I toast my year-end glass of Cabernet Franc to you.