As is always the case, the last third of the year is flying by. Sunday ushers in November, and then before we even know it, we’ll be saying goodbye to 2026. October blessed southern Ontario with unseasonably warm and dry weather, which has been a welcome relief to growers and winemakers in the Niagara Peninsula who experienced one of the wettest summers on record. Across the region, Cabernet Franc is just being harvested, which is a little later than average, and I am anxious to taste the results.
The warm but still fall-like weather certainly influenced my drinking habits. I’ve been reaching for lighter styles with bright acidity, but also enjoying a few gems from my cellar, including a of couple early-drinking 2022s from the Loire that are starting to hit their stride. So, without further ado, here are some of the wines that excited my palate this month.
Buttonwood Grove, 2025 Blanc de Franc, Finger Lakes (Cayuga Lake), New York, USA (12.5% abv., SRP $24USD): Firstly, can I say that I hope featuring a white Cabernet Franc as part of my monthly Tasting Diaries becomes a regular thing? I absolutely love this style of Cabernet Franc and I would like to see more of it out there! I picked this bottle up from the winery this spring on one of a couple of visits I made to the Finger Lakes. The winery’s website says that this is a “semi-sweet” white, but if I had my way, I’d probably call it “off-dry” so as not to alienate any potential consumers who have a fear of sweet wines, because this wine does not come across as semi-sweet for my palate. It has about 10 g/L residual sugar (1%, according to the website) and I think it balances the wine nicely and contributes to its yumminess factor. It leads with fresh white, fleshy fruits (Rainier cherry, ripe pear, white raspberry) and delightful floral undertones (lily of the valley, white lilac), with a touch of micro basil and pink peppercorn. Clean, crisp acidity makes for a refreshing palate, with the hint of residual sugar providing balance, a bit more mid-palate weight and a sense of moreish drinkability. While not terribly complex, it doesn’t need to be; I think the beauty in this wine is its simplicity, delicacy and balance. Just delicious. I would enjoy this as an aperitif, or I think it would be perfect with a sashimi platter.
Château de Fosse Sèche, 2018 Éolithe VDF (Saumur, 12.5% abv., SRP $38USD/22EUR): I have long had a love affair with this wine. Not only is it delicious, but it also scratches at my nerdy itch to think about terroir and how Cabernet Franc can be a mirror for place. The Éolithe is the domaine’s early-drinking expression of Cabernet Franc coming from a type of Jurassic limestone called silex de Brossay that is unique to only four communes in Saumur. In recent years, I’ve enjoyed this wine more often on the younger side when the fruit is still juicy and fresh, so I was curious to see how it would show with a bit more time in the bottle and also from a very warm vintage. And if I needed justification to tuck away a few bottles for future drinking, this wine delivered it!
Extremely perfumed out of the gate, the wine leads with earth and spice undertones that are supported by fruit. Fragrant lavender, bay, sage, chamomile and pine boughs mix with allspice and cinnamon stick, followed by sweet-tart though ripe red fruits (dried sour cherry, strawberry-rhubarb fruit leather). Impressively energetic for such a warm vintage, with elevated, sprightly acidity that is woven finely together with taut, cotton-like tannins. Concentrated, complex, plush, enveloping but precise and focused through the long, spice-forward (star anise, dried ginger), exotic finish. When so many 2018s from the Loire can be hedonistically over-the-top, this Éolithe delivers freshness, elegance and restraint. Superb, and with easily 5+ years of life still ahead of it. Pairing idea: pork saltimbocca to pick up on the sage undertones in the wine.
Fogolar Wines, 2018 Cabernet Franc “Picone Vineyard,” VQA Vinemount Ridge, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario, Canada (13.0% abv., SRP $35CAD): Thanksgiving in Canada was a couple of weeks ago, and while I drink local Cabernet Franc often, the holiday gave me an excuse to dip into my cellar. One of Ontario’s great Cabernet Franc “premiers crus,” the Picone Vineyard is a cool, windy, clay-driven, late-ripening site perched up on the Vinemount Ridge, just southwest of the village of Vineland. The vineyard is planted with some of Ontario’s oldest Cabernet Franc vines planted in the early 1980s. The 2018 vintage was not the easiest one for late-ripening reds like Cabernet Franc, as the warm, dry summer turned wet and cool come fall, making it a challenge to properly ripen the Bordeaux reds. But when you have a great site, an attentive viticulturalist (Phil Clarke) and a great winemaker (Marc Pistor), magic can happen. I’ve had a few vintages of this wine at different stages in its evolution, and the 2018 is showing well at the moment.
An open, fragrant nose leads with oak at first, and with about 30 minutes of decanting, the fruit-herbal profile comes through well. Fresh red raspberry and blackcurrant, with notes of fresh and dried thyme, dried ancho chili, violets and tobacco, which are complemented by barrel notes of sandalwood, dill seed and clove. The palate is more earth-forward with added notes of mint jelly and bay leaf. Bright, crisp-tart acidity marries with fine, densely packed, percale cotton-like tannins that exhibit a bit of sinewy chew through the mid-palate. Still youthful, with good density and character to continue to age over the medium term. For my palate, I would’ve liked a smidge less oak influence, though there is sufficient concentration to carry the wood. Well balanced, thoughtfully crafted, intentional, classic. Always a serious, cellar-worthy Niagara Cabernet Franc.
Yannick Amirault, 2022 Bourgueil “Côte 50” (13.5% abv., SRP $25USD/13.50EUR): This is one of a handful of bottles of Côte 50 from the 2022 vintage that I have remaining in my cellar. I haven’t checked in on this wine in some time, but I did enjoy my fair share of the 2025 Côte 50 this summer. I think that 2022, which followed other warm years like 2018, 2019 and 2020, provided another opportunity for Loire vignerons to hone their skills when managing extraction and tannin in these sorts of vintages, which are becoming more commonplace. In my tastings, many 2022s are more tannic upfront than what I’ve noticed from the 2025s I’ve tasted, which suggests that vignerons have learned to proceed more cautiously with tannin management in these vintages where the skin-to-juice ratio is higher.
On opening, I thought that the 2022 Côte 50 showed a touch over-extracted, but after a bit of oxygen, the hard edges melted away. Ripe, dark fruits (blackcurrant, mulberry) with twiggy, warm-vintage herbal notes (dried rosemary, bay, a little marjoram) and dried violets. Plush, silky tannins that become more seamless over time are complemented by refreshing acidity and added spice (juniper, clove, allspice) that gives the palate levity and momentum. Enveloping, textural, with concentration that almost brings this sense of luxuriousness. Delicious. Modern, honest, self-assured.
Domaine de la Noblaie, 2022 Chinon “Le Temps des Cerises” (13.5% abv., SRP $27USD): Unlike the majority of early-drinking examples of Chinon that are sourced from the sandy, alluvial soils of the Vienne, Domaine de la Noblaie and their parcels are in the commune of Ligré, which is dominated by heavier clay soils with varying amounts of limestone and flint. Making an early-drinking expression from these soils requires restraint and a deft hand, particularly in a warm vintage like 2022, as the clay can bring a lot of power to the wine. I think vigneron Jérôme Billard has become a master at understanding his vineyards and soils in order to craft an entry-level wine that delivers early-drinking ease and drinkability while also having sufficient structure to be on a level with many vins de garde from the region.
The 2022 is showing bright dark fruit (cassis, black raspberry pâtes de fruits, blackcurrant) with balanced herbal and savoury undertones (roasted red pepper, spruce, sous-bois, bay leaf), delicate floral notes (lilac) and warming, piquant spices (Sichuan peppercorn, cinnamon). The aromatics on the nose show the ripeness of the vintage, but the palate is juicy, mouth-watering and brimming with energy. Medium-bodied and fleshy, with tannins that are firm, fine and densely packed with a velour-like softness and a touch of chalky grip through the finish. At first sip, I immediately said to myself: this wine is SO satisfying. Like, satisfying in a way that is a bit hard to articulate, but it’s kinda a combination of refreshing, comforting, and unabashed deliciousness. I think this 2022 will continue to drink very well for the next 3 to 5 years, though I’m sure it will live longer than that.
Simon di Brazzan, 2016 Cabernet Franc, IGP Venezia Giulia, Friuli-Venezia-Giulia, Italy (12.5% abv., SRP $32USD): When I was living in the US between 2015 and 2020, I waited with bated breath for the daily e-offer from SommSelect, during the platform’s heyday when founder Ian Cauble was curating the offerings. Ian was clearly a Cabernet Franc fan. I made so many wonderful Cab Franc discoveries thanks to his selections, and there are many bottles still in my cellar today that bear the SommSelect sticker. This Cabernet Franc from four-generation Friuli estate Simon di Brazzan was one of them. I last tasted this bottling from 2016 exactly six years ago around this time, and this month I opened my last bottle. The wine is from a mix of parcels in the municipalities of Cormons, Mariano del Friuli, and Isonzo from vines growing on the local type of marl called ponca and alluvial gravels. It is fermented in large 25 hl oak vats.
The nose presents quite varietally forward with herbal and earth notes leading, supported by fruit and spice. Aromas of bergamot and evergreen with a myriad of liquorice-centric undertones (anise seed, fennel fronds, salted black liquorice) that bring lift and intrigue, with fresh and dried red-fruited notes (sour cherry fruit leather, cranberry, raspberry) playing a supporting role. The palate is elegant and medium bodied, with vibrant acidity and fine, seamless, silky tannins, and impressive mid-palate fruit intensity with added layers of green peppercorn, Espelette pepper, coriander and violets. Something about it feels unmistakably Italian to me. Unpretentious and very drinkable, while also having a slight air of seriousness, this is a beautifully made, honest, refined Cabernet Franc. The SommSelect original notes had a drink-by date of 2024, and I would say that this has reached a beautiful peak. I think it might ride that wave for a little longer before starting to fade. There’s an impressive amount of concentration packed into its refined, mid-weight frame. I wish I had another bottle.
Have any burning Cabernet Franc questions? Send me a direct message or reply to this email, I’d love to hear from you.
Started my Finger Lakes sparkling wine trip last year at Buttonwood. So many good bubbles there.