2019 Cat's in the Cradle Cab Franc

THE WINE

Blend: 100% Cabernet Franc

Vineyard & AVA: Frogtown Vineyard, Geneseo District, Paso Robles CA

Alcohol: 15.5%

Aging: Enjoy now, or lay down for 10-15 years

THE SONG

Harry Chapin’s “Cat’s in the Cradle'' strikes a chord with young and old alike. Presented as a series of dialogues between a man and his son, the verses allow us to watch them age without ever quite connecting. When the son is young, the father can’t find the time to raise him, being busy with work, but despite the distance, the son clearly admires the father, saying “I’m gonna be just like you dad”. By the end of the song, the father is old and retired, longing to spend time with his son– who, in fact, has followed in this father’s footsteps and became just like him–too busy to spend time with his old man.

Cab Franc is the parent grape to Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and many others. It’s a very site-specific grape, producing vastly different wines from different regions, and shows incredible grace and complexity. But like any good parent, it ends up spending most of its efforts helping its kids along in life. In Bordeaux, it is often blended in small amounts with its offspring, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, to fill in their deficits. As a standalone varietal, it is as interesting to somms as it is overlooked by consumers. I want to bring this grape into the mainstream where it belongs.

VINIFICATION

100% destemmed, fermented on native yeast, on skin for 14-18 days. Aged for 29 months in 265L French oak barriques, 100% new.

TASTING NOTES

The soil is sandy with rocks and interspersed with clay, where the sand provides the wine with beautiful complexity in the aromatics, and the clay adds muscle and tannin to allow it to stand up to the oak and extend its cellar time. Here in Paso, we have cooling winds from the Pacific that flow through the Templeton Gap each night, causing a massive downward plunge in temperature and extending the growing season. It shows perfect ripeness with bright acidity. On the nose, I get a convergence of boysenberry compote, fresh cedar and caramel. The palate shows its heft and grows more complex, adding herbs, pepper and juicy berries that ride beautifully integrated tannins into a lengthy, sumptuous finish.