Specs say it pairs well with Vella Dry Jack Cheese. Any possibility the Vella will appear in a surprise Monday plus offer? Not holding my breath, but I think I’ll wait until after 10:00 to pull the trigger on this.
So, David is saying he can’t say where this comes from. The front label says RRV (and I do wish I could see the back). Cesare indicates this is from Tommy Town Vineyards - which has an AVA of Happy Canyon in Santa Barbara.
WD
is this the Christmas/holiday woot cellars release. Do u guys no longer do those Christmas themed ones ? Like humbug etc.
I’d appreciate any insight. Thanks
A bottle of this arrived unheralded on Friday. We let it rest to open with leftover beef short ribs on Saturday as a likely better match.
Let me start by saying that I am usually not the biggest fan of Cabernet Franc on its own. This wine makes me think again.
This was a deep, dark red. The nose starts with green vegetal notes, mainly the green pepper that I associate with Cab Franc. But with fruit and floral notes as well. There were floral notes with dark fruit, mainly plum, on the palate. This had a real nice acidity, especially when paired with the beef short ribs that we were having for dinner. But it was not too acidic to sip on its own to finish off the bottle, which we did.
I looked up the characteristics of Cab Franc, though I can’t find the website that I use for wine varietals, so this was looking at several sites. The floral notes are typically violet. Since it has been a while since I smelled a violet, and never tasting one, I can’t assert that the floral notes were violet, but it does sound reasonable. And, of course, the green bell pepper.
This opened up nicely over the time we had it open. It hangs together very well. It has a little more age at release than many Woot Cellar wines, and that seems to help. This should have a good drinking window, but it does not need a year or more before you open. Just a decent decant.
Wish I had thought to take a photo of the back label. And now I am at work. I assume I am not the only one to stumble on a bottle, so hopefully someone else will make it happen.
Not going to lie, I have been looking at this wine name for years, and it just now finally clicked to me how it is pronounced, happy and sad day all at the same time.
Add me to the Ohio wish-list. After not being upset for several months after the lack of Ohio shipping, two-auto buys show up in the same week. Guess I should still be happy I have more money for X-Mas/PS4/TV.
I drank a bottle of this with SWMBO, my father-in-law, and a tri-tip. I don’t drink much CF as I’m not really fond of the green, vegetal, leather components that sometimes can dominate the variety so keep that in mind. We didn’t aerate or decant. The wine is pretty and very red, not thick looking, not purple. So far, so good. The smell is definitely interesting. It clearly has that bell pepper/eucalyptus/chemical scent along with red fruits. On the palate, the wine is on the lighter side of medium body, not astringent or tannic, not bitingly acidic. Pretty nice. The front palate is a little lacking but the mid and back palates are very lively. This is a bright, nimble wine. Not heavy at all and it’s really quite refreshing. There is unquestionably that bell pepper/eucalyptus/chemical but it’s nicely balanced with red fruit. The last of my glass was probably the best as everything was there and some mild tannins appeared on the back end giving this some nice structure. I’d say decant for 45 minutes, wait a year if you want, but this is great right off the Viking ship popped and poured. Travel shock is fake!!! This is a more elegant wine than I normally drink (my cellar just doesn’t have a lot of light, nimble wines) and it was really nice. Serious WBM, but I’ll grab some if we see it next year.
As always, I’m around for specific questions. Also, a single glass is left in the bottle in the fridge. I’ll report later on how it did after 24 hours.
