A Great Wine For A Great Cause

Just when I think I could swear off Cabernet Sauvignon forever, along comes a wine that makes me scrap that fateful decision. 

It's not that I don't like Cab, it's just that I want to try all the grapes. Whenever I have a Cab, I feel that I am missing out on discovering some grape that is new to me. Plus, so many people are shortsighted where grapes are concerned. Cabernet Sauvignon gets enough attention, in my humble opinion.

But, here comes the tantalizing siren. A sustainably farmed, single vineyard Cab from the place that was built on that grape: the Napa Valley. The 2021 J. Lohr Carol's Vineyard Cabernet is from the St. Helena appellation, within the famed valley. It was aged for 18 months in French oak barrels, a little more than half of which were new. Carol's Vineyard was named for Jerry Lohr's late wife, who fell victim to breast cancer more than a decade ago. Today, in her memory, each bottle of the namesake Cab which is sold makes a donation to support the National Breast Cancer Foundation. 

The vineyard contains gravelly, sandy loam soils which provide a great basis for the grapes. The wine carries alcohol at 14.5% abv and a retail price of $60. Red winemaker Brenden Wood says if you can hang onto it for a dozen or more years, you'll be well rewarded for your restraint.

This extremely dark wine is indigo in color. The nose features black fruit aromas, like blackberry, fig and plum. There are a ton of spices at work here, too, but in a very subtle way. Cinnamon, allspice, thyme and sage notes appear. The palate has some very firm tannins at work, while the black fruit shows itself again. The dark flavors align with the smells on the nose. This wine is a perfect mate for a juicy rib eye steak, or a nice pork chop hot off the grill. 

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Let Your Franc Flag Fly: Stepping Stone By Cornerstone

Cabernet Franc is not exactly a problem grape, but it does like to let its franc flag fly.  They know about that around Chinon, in the Loire Valley.  The grape’s tendency to display aromas like cassis and raspberry are okay with most folks, but some American palates find the bell pepper and tobacco notes a little off-putting.

Cornerstone Cellars' managing partner Craig Camp writes in his Wine Camp blog about letting Franc be Franc.  Camp writes, “Many wineries seem to want to tame the cantankerous cabernet franc's edgy personality, but we don't. In fact, we revel in its idiosyncrasies. Being Franc is everything to us.”  Francly speaking, when the wine wants to walk on the wild side, let it.

“Not wild like crazy, but like nature,” he explains.  And a bit like the Cornerstone philosophy, too.  The winery states clearly that they don’t make wines for just anybody.  Camp continues with his Cab Franc 101 class, “Cabernet franc should have an edge aromatically showing wild herbs and mint and a firm structure that grabs your attention. Like most really interesting things, it's not for everyone.”

The Cabernet Franc grapes for this wine come from Napa Valley vineyard sites in St. Helena, Oakville, Coombsville and Carneros.  A touch of Carneros Merlot rounds out the wine.  Camp says the spice of the Merlot echoes the natural wildness of the Cabernet Franc with a cool-vineyard herbal note.  He starts to get a little overheated about here, claiming, “I don't know if we make a sexier wine.”  In the black label, it's certainly one of their better-dressed offerings.

The 2011 vintage was a cool one in Napa Valley, and Camp states that some people who look for high-octane, fruity wines were disappointed with it.  “If you took the weather we had in 2011, and gave it to Bordeaux,” he writes, “ they would be drinking Champagne and slapping themselves on the back.”  I have found that many 2011s from Napa Valley are giving me exactly what I look for in a wine - complexity and restraint.

A sample of the Stepping Stone by Cornerstone Black Label Napa Valley Cabernet Franc 2011 was made available to me for the purpose of this article.

This Cab Franc is inky dark and has the aromas to back that up.  Brooding black currant fruit is smartly outfitted in herbs - sage and eucalyptus - and a hint of bell pepper.  The palate continues the dark thread, with flavors of blackberry and black raspberry.  There is an herbal streak here, too, with savory notes matching the fruit.  The tannins are right out front and the acidity is mouthwatering.


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