Winery - Frank Family
* Expert NoteJanuary 12, 2012
Soft, ripe and totally voluptuous, showing gorgeously ripe fruit and tannins. Seductive and delicious. Doesn’t seem built for the long haul, but defines Rutherford’s red stone fruit, and slightly earthy appeal.
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* Expert NoteJanuary 12, 2012
Dark, ripe and tannic, it’s an ager, but there’s something about it now that’s instantly appealing. It is a dry wine but with a honeyed sweetness and glyceriney richness. Oozes blackberry, lead pencil, currant, cedar and mocha flavors leading to a long, balanced finish.
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* Expert NoteJanuary 12, 2012
Excellent due to the sheer fabulosity of its flavors, which are rich and opulent in black currant, blackberry and roast coffee. But this is a young wine, with sharp acids, and the tannins leave a drying sensation after you swallow. It hasn’t all knit together yet.
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* Expert NoteJanuary 12, 2012
It does not seem unreasonable, at this price, to expect a wine to be among the best of its class. This wine is not. Certainly, it is drenched in the best oak money can buy, and drips with the sweet, smoky char of toasted barrels. Beyond that, there are some modest berry flavors and rather nice tannins.
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* Expert NoteJanuary 12, 2012
Ripe and fleshy in young fruit, this Cab, with minor amounts of Cab Franc and Merlot, shows black currant, plum, cherry and cedar flavors, with a dry-sweet dusting of crushed brown herbs and spices. Fairly tannic and tight now, it’s balanced enough for mid-term aging. Best 2008–2012.
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* Expert NoteJanuary 12, 2012
Polished, supple and well-balanced. The cherry, herb and oak flavors are held by sturdy but pliant tannins and a good volume of acidity. Epitomizes a classic Rutherford interpretation.
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* Expert NoteJanuary 12, 2012
Lush, plush and full-bodied, this Cabernet-based Bordeaux blend is showy in the way of Napa Valley. It has well-developed flavors of black currants, black cherries, lavender and smoky oak, with a dusting of anise and pepper. Fine now and through 2013.
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* Expert NoteJanuary 12, 2012
Frank Family has always done a good job with Zinfandel, but their ’06 is the best yet. It’s rich and delicious, packed with savory black cherry, raspberry, mocha, cinnamon spice and vanilla flavors that are wrapped into wonderfully soft tannins. Really defines the so-called “claret” style of Zin.
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* Expert NoteJanuary 12, 2012
You can’t help but taste the harvest heat in this wine, which brims with blackberry and cherry flavors that verge, not on raisins, but what happens when pie filling spills over into the pan and bakes. The wine is very high in alcohol and thus it’s soft as chocolate pudding.
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* Expert NoteJanuary 12, 2012
Tastes austere and aloof now, with the core of black cherry and blackberry fruit cut off by an encircling army of spear-tipped tannins. But very finely structured, dry and classic, just waiting to express its inner beauty. One for the cellar. Give it 6–7 years to begin to come around.
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