Looking at recent press praising American Cabernet Franc as a single varietal wine, you’d think this grape has only now been ‘discovered’ by US publications. In 2025 Wine Enthusiast declared “Cabernet Franc is in its “It” Era”. Other articles praise Cab Franc for losing its image as a grape that’s “Always the bridesmaid, rarely the bride” (a reference to how CF is a relatively minor player in Bordeaux).

The reality is winegrowers on the East Coast have long seen Cabernet Franc as one of their signature grapes. For example, New York wineries have become so enamored with this grape they recently instituted a “Cabernet Franc Forward” initiative to highlight its success. Even so, I believe NY is a latecomer to advertising Cabernet Franc, as Virginia has been all-in on CF for well over a decade.

Virginia has 629 acres of Cabernet Franc, as reported in Virginia’s 2024 Commercial Grape Report. Cabernet Franc is so important these acres comprise 18.5% of total wine grape plantings in the state. It’s also been Virginia’s most widely planted wine grape since 2019.

While Cab Franc is found all over the US (by comparison California has 3,400 acres planted, per the Cabernet Franc Chronicles), it seems to specifically thrive in the East Coast. When I asked Pearmund Cellars winemaker Mark Ward to explain Cabernet Franc’s appeal in Virginia, he put it like this:

“Cabernet Franc is well suited to Virginia from a growing perspective with thicker skins and looser clusters, important factors due to Virginia’s humid weather. It also ripens earlier, avoiding potential late-season rains. It’s flexibility in the cellar reflects a winemaker’s style while still allowing it to be approachable early from the consumer’s viewpoint.”

Tasting & Scoring Methodology

My group blind tasted 10 wines in 5 flights. All the flights were bagged blind (even to me).

The makeup of this particular group of tasters was a bit unusual for my events. While many of my blind tasting participants are already wine professionals, this particular comparison included 5 guests who work as professional somms in DC restaurants or wine stores. While all were broadly familiar with Virginia wine, many of the producers I featured were unfamiliar to them (note: around half these wines were industry gift samples).

One thing that stood out was how important ‘typicity’ was with this group. This was in line with something Matthieu Finot of King Family once told me, that Cabernet Franc must keep varietal characteristics such as pyrazines in order for it retain its ‘soul’. Without those markers, Cab Franc becomes just another red wine.

I specified the goal was for everyone to pick a ‘drink now’ personal favorite, as opposed to selecting wines that met the technical specifications for what should be the ‘best’ wine in a judging lineup. I use this method because that’s how most everyday drinkers choose their wines.

That said, I think the ‘favorites’ skewed towards wines that were more stereotypically ‘Cab Franc-y’, which is important in understanding how we voted. The somms also tended to focus on details such as structure and alcohol. Balance, integration, and light oak treatment was also hugely important to them.

We discussed the wines during every round, but I shook things up from my normal blind tasting methodology. Instead of asking for a favorite after every flight, we went through all 10 wines first, then took palate-cleansing sparkling wine break before the ‘finals’.

For the finalist round, I put all the wines on the table to allow re-tastes, then had participants give me their “Top 3” wines.

The Contenders

1. 2023 Hark Vineyards
2. 2023 Philip Carter Winery “Nomini Hall”
3. 2022 Eastwood Farm
4. 2022 Pearmund Cellars
5. 2023 Fifty-Third Winery
6. 2023 Glen Manor Vineyards
7. 2023 DuCard Vineyards Reserve
8. 2022 Pollak Reserve
9. 2023 Stinson Vineyards
10. 2022 Early Mountain Vineyard “Shenandoah Springs”

Flight #1

Bottle #1 / 2023 Hark Vineyards: This wine had ‘soul’. People loved the aromatics, and noted it had a roasted pepper finish. Others mentioned the red fruit notes and someone said it had a ‘stem-y’ note as well.

#1 was slightly higher in terms of alcohol (13.7%) and (at least in comparison to #2) was higher in acidity. I heard praise for the winemaking style being very clean and fresh.

Bottle #2 / 2023 Philip Carter “Nomini Hall”: This struck us as an ‘old world’ wine (note – Matthieu Finot of King Family made this, so it tracks). It was hard for us to judge initially since it took a long time to open up, so some of these notes came at the end when we did re-tastes. Only then did the aromas come out.

I felt it had a confectionary note to it. Others in my group mentioned red pepper and pyrazine notes, but we mostly discussed black fruit (especially before it fully opened). Other notes included a pickled spice note and tarragon. I also heard someone call out a savory note, how the “sandy” tannins were integrated, and the wine had ‘tension’.

Comparing the two, #1 was more red fruit and more obviously “New World” compared to the black fruit and “Old World” quality of #2. The Philip Carter wine was also riper, had a longer finish, and had more complexity once it opened up (2 hours later).

Flight #2

Bottle #3 / 2022 Eastwood Farm: Note of brett on the palate, sharp acidity. I wonder if I had an off bottle, since this was a Double Gold winner at the 2023 San Francisco Chronicle wine competition.

Bottle #4 / 2022 Pearmund Cellars: There were more notes given to this wine than perhaps any other of the day. I heard ‘roasted chili and ‘pecan chili’ called out. It was denser than #3 but still balanced. Aromatic, with tart, ripe fruit on the palate. “Long tannins” were mentioned several times.

Overall, this was just a super approachable, elevated wine. I had ‘floral’ underlined in my notes because that was the most popular description. A lesson in balance.

Flight #3

Bottle #5 / 2023 Fifty-Third Winery: Red fruit on the nose. I heard notes of bay leaves, spice, dried fruit on the palate. There was a hot note here; several felt the higher level of alcohol put this wine out of balance. Even so, the flavors were there. It also had an earthy quality to it.

I didn’t get a lot of notes of black vs red fruit, as much as this wine seemed to deliver a moderate level of both.

Bottle #6 / 2023 Glen Manor Vineyards: This wine encouraged a lot of debate. Everyone noted it was a well-made wine, but tasting it now compared to the other bottles seemed to be do it a disservice. But in 3-5 years, this may have been the winner of the day.

In terms of tasting notes, I heard conflicting notes about where to place it. Someone mentioned it struck them as more of a Bordeaux blend vs a full Cabernet Franc, while another said it was more like a California CF vs a Virginia CF.

The GMV was also very structured, with good ripeness. It had fruit notes, but just as importantly the fruit notes and the overall structure were in balance (balance was a key theme for this group).

I also heard ‘beet root’ and notes of graphite (this was one of two wines in the lineup with any mineral notes to it).

Flight #4

Bottle #7 / 2023 DuCard Vineyards Reserve: This was the most “Cab Franc-y” wine of the lineup. Judges who insist on typicity loved it (apparently, I prefer Cab Francs without the soul of Cab Franc, so I was an outlier).

I say I’m an outlier because I don’t love pyrazines, which were here in abundance. But they were the ‘good’ pyrazines you’d expect in a varietally-correct Cabernet Franc, and those pyrazines didn’t throw anything out of balance.

Other tasting notes included cassis and a smoky-chili pepper note. Tannin was there, which gave it some power. The oak was well integrated. Other notes include black cherry, raspberry, and cola notes, as well a beautiful finish.

Bottle #8 / 2022 Pollak Reserve: This wine emphasized oak and tannin, which made it atypical to the Cabernet Francs we sampled that day.

Sarsaparilla nose. The high levels of these qualities came at the expense of fruit notes. One participant noted that while it had moderate acidity, the high level of alcohol did the ‘heavy lifting’ for this wine.

Flight #5

Bottle #9 / 2023 Stinson Vineyards: This wine was well enjoyed, but the comments focused on it being more of a ‘red wine’ than a ‘Cabernet Franc’.

Group notes included herbaceous qualities such as tomato leaf and bay leaf. It was ‘plum-y’ but still had a red pepper note. The wine was ripe and soft. The somms praised the oak integration here, which they attributed to excellent winemaking. The floral notes also were praised.

I think it’s safe to say this was the most delicate wine of the day. One person mentioned it had a Pinot-like quality to it, sans the earth qualities (ironically, winemaker Rachael Vrooman is married to Ankida Ridge winemaker Nathan Vrooman, so there might be some truth to this).

Bottle #10 / 2022 Early Mountain Vineyard “Shenandoah Springs”: This wine was intense.

Someone mentioned it had an almost raisinated quality to it, which elicited agreement from the table. Another noted notes of potting soil. It had a higher level of alcohol than we expected in a Cab Franc. It had ‘dusty’ tannins, but the lack of fruit made it feel a bit astringent.

Finalist Round

• Bottle #4: 2022 Pearmund Cellars (Top wine of the day)
• Bottle #7: 2023 DuCard Vineyards (Runner Up)
• Bottle #9: 2023 Stinson Vineyards (3^rd place choice)

I tallied votes from our participants, asking them to vote their top favorite, 2^nd favorite, and 3^rd favorite wines of the day. To keep tally, I assigned 3 ‘points’ to 1^st place choices, 2 points to 2^nd place choices, and 1 point for a 3^rd choice.

In summary, the 2022 Pearmund Cellars wine was our top choice of the day. It was described as the kind of wine you could put on the table and everyone would enjoy, and seemed to appeal to both judges who wanted something both varietally correct, and those who didn’t want something overly Cab Franc-y. “Approachable” and “elevated” were its by-words

While this Pearmund wine was generally felt to be the best wine from a ‘drink now’ perspective, I want to give callouts to the other top scorers.

• The 2023 DuCard Reserve was the top winner for those who want something that screams tipicity (note; winemaker Julien Durantie comes from France). One of the somms refused to consider any other wine than this. It came in 2^nd overall in terms of voting.

• The 2023 Stinson Vineyards was the 3^rd top wine of the day for being a stunning red wine (although some naysayers may say it could have been more Cab Franc-y for their palate). The nose was one of the loveliest of the day; almost certainly the favorite of anyone who doesn’t love pyrazines. The oak integration had a ‘goldilocks’ quality of being ‘just enough’.

• The 2023 Glen Manor Vineyards deserves a special mentioned for its structure. Its main drawback is we felt it needs more time in bottle. In 3-5 years though…this is going to be stunning. The somms noted that while the price point is high, its age-ability makes it worth that price.

So in a way, there were multiple ‘winners’, depending on the qualities you were looking for.