Pedroncelli Barrel Select Cabernet Franc 6-Pack
$75.99 $132.00 42% off List Price
2014 Cabernet Franc, Barrel Select, Dry Creek Valley, Sonoma County
“Pedroncelli is Italian for QPR”
I’ve yet to have any Cab Franc from Pedroncelli so I’m really looking forward to this.
It is my understanding that most of the Pedroncelli offers benefit greatly from some cellar time, so it’d be great to hear what the life expectancy is on this particular wine from the winemaker if they happen to chime in. Thanks in advance. 
The '13 I got for $15 from 'tso is doing well.
Looking forward to this one at the even better WD tarif.
We won the golden ticket. A bottle of this amazing wine was delivered by the wine fairies. We had finally been blessed. We were going to open it the first night the wine came, but it was a late work night and we had chili for dinner, so we waited. It was a very long day, but we drank this wine with mushroom pasta and truffle cheese. We let the wine breathe for 1/2 hour till we could not wait any longer. It paired beautifully with our meal. This wine has a great nose and pretty decent legs with flavors of black currant and coffee. We loved every drop. Thank you wine faires.
Is woot not shipping to NJ in general anymore? This and the Ty Caton last week should have been good to go, but aren’t
A golden ticket, they do exist!
First an email, then a package, so much excitement! I opened the box with much anticipation to see a Cabernet Franc, not one of my favorites. I was worried, I always provide honest reviews including some negative ones on Woot before but never as a Grape Debater. What if this wine is not good and I never have the chance again? Then I scroll up the label and see Pedroncelli, this just got sooo much better.
I decided all I can do is approach with an open mind so the bottle went right into the wine fridge to wait for Friday night.
Finally, it’s time and I am more than a little excited. I opening it up and poured a bit of the still cool wine into a glass, no waiting or decanting. The color is a nice dark purply-red, my glasses have a hint of green which makes win look darker but this is what I expect from a Franc. Not much of a nose yet, it is still cool. No real legs, but a residual line did form with a swirl. Will check again when it opens a bit but now I do get a slight earthy aroma.
The taste is definitely tight but has a bitter-sweet fruit (cannot tell yet) front, decent mouth feel, and a bit of a tannin heavy after taste. Pleasing so far, and the after taste does not linger so I expect this to soften with some decanting.
My wife did not notice the after taste and had more legs on her glass. She commented at the strong alcohol smell and was a bit fearful to taste (hers sat in the glass as I tasted/typed above). However, once she tasted it the comments were “smooth” and “I really like this”.
This wine is much more mellow after a 30 minute decant in glass. The nose is almost floral with a mix of fruit in the bouquet. Nice long legs form on a swirl, there is definitely alcohol in this glass. But the forward taste is now sweet and pleasant, my wife can only offer “good, like really good”. The after-taste is gone but there is some bitterness/spice in the finish, perhaps hints of coffee or tea. If I had to pick a fruit, I might go with blackberry as it is sweet and tart all at once. It goes down smooth and the tannic feel is gone.
This might be changing my mind on Francs in general, or just that it is a Ped which can never be anything but great! Almost done with this tasting, will come back for another as it breaths some more and runs through an aerator.
This is a great wine! So maybe the tastings were too close together and the pours might have been a bit heavy (what would be the fun if they weren’t?), as we are feeling this wine. But more importantly we are quite enjoying it. The taste is a bit of apple now, more like sour apple as there is still an after-taste with some dry mouth feel. Sweet and tart is a good description. There is not much of a smell after aerating and the taste is pretty straight forward so it may not be a conversation piece, but it is flavorful and enjoyable enough to serve as a sipper and not a ‘table’ wine.
My wife paired with chocolate and it was fabulous together so could be a good choice for after dinner, but I think it would also go well with a nice cheese plate for an appetizer. There is still some acidity in there but not sure it is ready for red sauces. I would still to a nice cut of spiced meat as a dinner pairing, maybe even a Thanksgiving type dinner as a cranberry seems like it would complement this wine.
Bottom line (we may taste again tomorrow after it sits even longer) is this wine might have converted me to a Franc drinker.
Second day tasting bonus: there were a few sips left. Still some alcohol but the wine is very mellow now. The sour apple taste is still there with some blackberry type notes. Smooth finish and good flavor.
I would not have purchased this blind (the whole not a Franc fan thing), but now my wife is telling me to pick up more. I might not have converted to Franc but at this price point and how well that bottle drank will most likely be stopping back, when actually awake (it is quite early) to pick up more.
Happy to answer questions
Autobuy…in for 3. Damn my wallet is HURTING this month. Pedroncelli offered up a 6-bottle selection of their Cab’s with $6 shipping…in for that, then this, and yet other items from WOOT too…OUCH, but the wine cellar is getting re-stocked for winter!!!
I can’t see the year the wine was made
Today’s was an error. It’s fixed now. Order all the wine.
2014 Cabernet Franc, Barrel Select, Dry Creek Valley, Sonoma County
Fragrant tones of dark plum and berry mingle with warm spice. Flavors of cherry, black currant and a touch of vanillin oak complete the profile. The long finish is braced by bright fruit, fine acidity, and a solid core of medium tannins.
Thanks!
In for one. Looks like a solid go-to house wine at minimum, but with potential upside and QPR. At $13 per bottle it’s a low risk buy given the producer.
Thank you for sharing, great review.
And this is the joy of guestimating! This is my first experience with this wine as well. We produced it one other time but it all went to one customer and I didn’t pay much attention to the wine!
So here’s what I know (having consumed a bottle of this over the weekend) The wine has beautiful balance. I’d say the acid is just a touch lower than normal for us–2014 was the beginning of the “drought” effect. The fruit is very Dry Creek Valley-nice restraint but delivers mid-palate. And, as always with a Ped Red, nice long finish.
I gotta think a couple of years on this wine is going to turn it into a velvet dream. It’s drinking really nicely now, so don’t be afraid to pop a bottle after it relaxes from its delivery ride–a week or so ought to do it.
Ageability? 5 years or so from vintage? Just guessing here folks. Why don’t we all revisit this wine in about 3 years, then again in 5. Sound like a plan?
Hey Wooters, it’s Ed. Jon is swamped today and I just got back from a long weekend…I’m not ready to work yet so I thought I’d help him out!
This is a screaming deal! (WineDavid loves that term) I say so because we haven’t even offered this wine to our club yet…I can almost hear the emails coming as I type.
About the wine. As many of our fans know, CF is always a part of our Three Vineyards Cab-it’s a Bordeaux blend. We grow these grapes side by side with our Cab, Merlot, Petite Verdot and Malbec.
2014 was a great year for these varietals. We generally ferment these grapes separately and were so impressed with it on its own we decided to select out some barrels to bottle as a stand alone varietal.
I enjoyed a bottle of this over the weekend. Really nice fruit, a little spice on the nose–almost floral–great balance (Pedroncelli is, after all Italian for balance) and a really nice long finish.
I must say, I don’t drink a lot of Cab Franc-but if this is any example, I think I might have to expand my horizons!
Push that button. You know you want to push that button…
I knew I was leaving money on the table…WD, I will get even!
In for 3. I saw someone say they are not a Franc fan in the comments. I am, but only if done right. That seems obvious, but it just seems that many Francs can be very green and bitter, but the really good ones are just fantastic. Not sure if it’s a tougher grape to work with, but that is my take.
I also really love to see a strong amount of Franc in Cab Sauv blends…along with some Petit Verdot if possible.
In addition, every bottle of Pedroncelli I have gotten punches WAY above its weight class. I’m confident this will be no exception.
If you want to speed the uncork-to-mouth process, pour it into a decanter. There is a huge misconception that decanters are only for the aged. No so! Young wines benefit greatly from being splashed into a decanter–it’ll cut the wait time from 1/2 hour to about 3 minutes!
Hello, and thanks for the wine… 3 are on the way to me! I was wondering if you’ve ever made a Petit Verdot wine since you have the grapes? I have had few lately that have knocked my socks off. Smith & Wooten and a Trichero for example.