It was Saturday afternoon with hubby away having lunch with his friends, so it was the perfect opportunity for me to get a friend, enjoy some amazing arepas, and savor a flight while introducing her to the Virginia Wine Collective. My work weeks are getting a little more intense with more demands for focus (and I’m putting significantly more pressure on myself) and this time to blow off some steam is crucial for a sense of balance.
When we walked into the Collective tasting room, Gabby recognize me right away. The team here is very friendly, and we set ourselves up at the bar as she gave us menus. I knew I wanted the Cabernet Franc flight so I could savor all four, and my friend went for the mixed flight to get a broad sampling of the wines available.
My flight of four came quickly, and I went to work with some of Delve’s 2023 Cabernet Franc. I’ve previously written about enjoying this wine when it was released. I find it to be fresh – it’s not complicated, it’s aging nicely and tastes great. This is a good summer Cabernet Franc because it’s not heavy or oakey (aged in 100% neutral oak!) – it’s very fruit forward. This doesn’t need to be paired with anything, but would go really well with most foods I think. I found myself wondering about maybe even chilling it a little to have on a summer night outside. This is something to try soon. Gabby let me know the 2024 was bottled about a week ago, so there is more great stuff to look forward to from Delve!
The second Franc on my flight was Jake’s current 2022 Cabernet Franc release. I had a glass of this at the Out and About event the week prior, and I took a bottle to our neighbors’ house for an amazing paella dinner. This wine deserves to be paired with some food – it has more weight (actually I will be fancy and say gravitas) and cries out for beef. It worked well with the chicken paella because of the additional spice to it and the depth of the wine balances spice well. I think I said when it was released that I thought it needed time, well, the time is now. It’s quite ready to drink and I think it will be drinking nicely for a while. I have a bottle on the rack and I think it will be heartily consumed when there is steak on the grill.
The third franc on the flight was Joy Ting’s Amuse Cabernet Franc (2021). I had some at the Generous Pour event a few months back, and some at the Out and About (and brought a lovely bottle home). This wine is very light and fruity. The tasting notes cite “cranberry, cherry, plum and raspberry.” I get cranberry and cherry pretty clearly on this wine. This is another great one for the summer, and again it does not need a pairing at all. It would be lovely with some cheeses when you’re having friends over because it really is a charming wine – it’s here for your conversation and enjoyment.
While the flight was designed to finish with Dogwood and Thistle’s 2022 Cabernet Franc (I got a splash the previous week), they are now only serving that wine by the bottle. They are substituting Eastwood’s 2022 Cabernet Franc into the lineup moving forward, and the notes haven’t been updated. This felt like the heaviest franc to me. There was some oak, and pairing would be wonderful – again beef or pork would be great. This is enjoyable, and has some darker red fruit to it.
For each sampling, I pouring half the serving into my glass before moving to the next, and then revisited each of them. I really like doing it this way, since there were really four very different wines here. Jake made the Delve and his own wine, and finished the 22 Eastwood. Each shows up quite differently based on his process for them, even though there is some crossing of sites for the grapes.
After I finished my flight, I went for a glass of Jake’s 2017 Tannat. I have a bottle on my rack still, and I wanted to see how it was doing. This wine is dark.
Check out that gorgeous tannat color! He aged this in a mix of neutral and new oak, and there is really nice integration of that oak happening now. Younger wines aged in oak tend to seem overpoweringly oakey to me – this wine has refined itself into a really nice place, and I’m certain my bottle of 2017 will age for a good number of years on my rack and still be lovely. The depth to this wine is shocking, and I find that typical with Virginia Tannat. I love having some producers I’ve met doing this wine in ways that I know can age ten or more years. If I were you, I’d grab a few bottles so I could sample one each year and note what is shifting over time.
So get yourself over to the Virginia Wine Collective if you haven’t been yet. It wasn’t crowded at all – a few small groups came, some went upstairs, some stayed down. The team is just fantastic – friendly, knowledgeable, and ready to recommend great wines to you. The atmosphere is just perfect, and rumor has it that in the future there will be things like wine dinners with amazing pairings there. Thank God I just got a raise, because this is what I’m looking forward to now!
And you should look forward to a shirt. This summer you need a new tee-shirt, and with all that is going crazy in the world, these dumpster fire shirts are perfect for the moment. Buy yours soon.
Yes, I know, the dumpster looks more like a toaster. You get the point.
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