2022 Cabernet Franc, Matthiasson

Their Cabernet Franc is a favourite at Flint amongst our own team. Here they use heritage Franc clones from three vineyard sites (ranging from a cool Carneros vineyard closer to the ocean, their own vineyard in the cooler pocket of Napa at the south of the valley, and their celebrated Phoenix vineyard, planted on unusual (for Napa) schist. In the warm 2022 vintage they picked before Labor Day (start of September) and used 50% whole cluster in the fermentation, before elevage in old puncheons and foudres. All in all, this is an ethereal, silky Cabernet Franc with more than a nod to the Loire Valley.