Wines made from Cabernet franc grapes of Virginia - Page 2
Discover the best wines made with Cabernet franc as a single variety or as a blend of Virginia.
Cabernet Franc is one of the oldest red grape varieties in Bordeaux. The Libourne region is its terroir where it develops best. The terroirs of Saint-Emilion and Fronsac allow it to mature and develop its best range of aromas. It is also the majority in many blends. The very famous Château Cheval Blanc, for example, uses 60% Cabernet Franc. The wines produced with Cabernet Franc are medium in colour with fine tannins and subtle aromas of small red fruits and spices. When blended with Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon, it brings complexity and a bouquet of aromas to the wine. It produces fruity wines that can be drunk quite quickly, but whose great vintages can be kept for a long time. It is an earlier grape variety than Cabernet Sauvignon, which means that it is planted as far north as the Loire Valley. In Anjou, it is also used to make sweet rosé wines. Cabernet Franc is now used in some twenty countries in Europe and throughout the world.
Virginia is a state on the eastern seaboard of the United States, located immediately South of Maryland and North of the Carolinas. The state covers 42,750 square miles (110,750 km2) of mountains, valleys and the Atlantic coastal Complex that forms its eastern border. From the Cumberland and Blue Ridge Mountains in the west to the coastal creeks and estuaries in the east, Virginia's topography and geology are varied, to say the least. The landscape around the Chesapeake Bay - a vast coastal inlet that separates the main state from its Eastern Shore - could hardly be more different from that below Mt Rogers (1,750m), 480km to the west.
That represents a 69% increase on the 5.5 million bottles sold in 2019, highlighting the exponential growth the industry has enjoyed in recent years. Brits account for 96% of the sales, but demand is increasing in export markets too. English and Welsh wines have proved particularly popular in Scandinavia, with exports to Norway rising by 85% year-on-year in 2021. In the UK, more than half of the sales are direct-to-consumer, either via the cellar door or a winery’s website. However, sales in sup ...
Vacqueyras Vacqueyras is low-lying and mostly flat, and it was hit hard by the frost in 2021. Yields were down around 25%. Vineyards on slopes and near woodland were more likely to be spared, and those that were lucky went on to make precise, fresh, well-balanced reds. Most, however, are light and drinkable, destined to be drunk young. White varieties largely avoided the frost, and the quality is excellent – concentrated wines with impact, acidity and great balance. Scroll down to see tasting no ...
Franzese was known as the ‘yuppie don’ in the 1980s after rising to the rank of caporegime in the Colombo crime family. Fortune Magazine placed him at No. 18 on its 50 Biggest Mafia Bosses list, and he gained a reputation as one of the mob’s biggest earners since Al Capone. He was portrayed by Joseph Bono in Goodfellas. Franzese became a born-again Christian during a lengthy prison sentence for racketeering, and he managed to walk away from the mafia without going into protective custody. He is ...