Gallica 2016 Oakville Ranch Cabernet Franc.

While Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon are often spoken about in the same breath, they could not be more different. We love working with this wonderous varietal from Oakville Ranch Vineyard and the resulting wines. Experience has allowed us a more insightful approach to not only winemaking but matching cooperage type, size, and age to its delicacy. We are blessed with days of ample sunshine and chilling fog in Napa Valley. Our interpretation of Cabernet Franc straddles the divide between understated elegance, herbal undertones, and California’s signature all with the esprit of low intervention winemaking. Our goal is to pick clusters at ideal ripeness, each berry plump and flavorful. 2016 vintage wears the attributes of fresh rose petals, red plum skin, chaparral, and even a whiff of dried mint. Expect moderate tannins, sweet and refined, with aspects of black tea and sea salt. Poised for a long life yet deliciously ready to drink with decanting. Bottled without fining or filtration in June 2018. California Certified Organic Farming.

2016 Growing Season | Noted as an exceptional quality vintage due to moderate summer temperatures, abundant winter rains and a balanced crop size. Despite some summer heat events, there was ample water available in the soil at just the right times to deliver beautifully full clusters with elegant tannin. Winter rainfall returned to Napa Valley and amounts were nearly identical to the 2012 growing season. Overall, 2016 was a vintage without serious farming challenges and sensational for winemakers.

"The 2015 Red Wine Oakville Ranch Vineyard, Rosemary Cakebread's Cabernet Franc, is incredibly intriguing. It also is going to need at least a few years to soften, as the tannins are formidable at this early stage. A core of intense dark red cherry and plum fruit lies behind all of that tannin. Hints of cedar, woodsmoke, tobacco, grilled herbs and incense gradually emerge to give the wine its upper register. A dollop of Cabernet Sauvignon rounds out the blend. What a gorgeous wine this is." 94+ Points Antonio Galloni.