TLDR: An initially good (but not great) wine that took a really long time to open up (+9 hours) to be the wine I wanted it to be. It needed more space that I had time or inclination to give it. I imagine this is how parents must feel, I’m just not sure I’m ready to raise a brood of these.

Imagine my surprise with the UPS notification that I was getting a 21+ delivery, knowing I’d already received all but what I’d ordered on the day prior. It’s good to be a rat. Invariably, when someone asks me what my favorite varietal is, I’ll tell them it’s a Cab Franc, so when I checked the shipping info and I saw that’s what I was getting, I was understandably excited, and even more so as I had just had a bottle of the Martin Ray Stags Leap Merlot last week (glad I didn’t pass on that!). I only received the bottle Thursday afternoon, and the communication indicated a Friday offer, so no time to really deviate from the planned meals too much. My expectations were high going into this, and maybe just a bit too high.

The bottle arrived around 13:00 and felt a little cool (measured about 54 with an IR thermo) which I guess makes sense as snowflakes were falling outside. I let it sit to warm on the table until the temp was about 62 and performed the customary P&P (for science), leaving the bottle to sit barely disturbed until the eventual dinner later in the evening.

My initial impressions were positive: at the time I noted the color to be quite dark, good clarity, and deep garnet hues. The aromas were a bit tight as one would expect with the temp, but I did pick up currants or maybe over-ripe blueberry, and freshly sawn pine. I told myself there was some petrichor hints there, but maybe I was imagining it? On sampling, it had a nice weight, felt like it draped across my tongue and washed with round tannins packing anise and cocoa, and some dried fruits, although I couldn’t pick out a single fruit. Surprisingly I didn’t note what I find to be a comforting pepper that I think of as a core tenet of my CFs.

Once this initial test was completed, I started a ribeye (sous vide), and set a couple of potatoes and sweet potatoes to baking for the eventual dinner. I also intended some roasted broccoli, but work got in the way. Some four hours later the wife was finally home from work and we could pour more wine, sear the steaks, and dress the ‘taters.

After the hours on the counter, the wine had reached roughly room temperature (measured at 69), and the searing of the steak had excited my senses for the delight I was expecting. This time around, my notes are a bit different for the wine. The aromas had shifted quite a bit with the freshness of the pine fading to more of a lumberyard aroma of more mixed woods, and the currants were more pronounced. I was also glad to find that I was finding some of the pepper on the nose now—my excitement built as I took my first sip.

This isn’t the same wine I had a few hours ago, is it? This felt thinner, less full and a bit less interesting. I cut off a bite of my steak and savored the slightly salty crust and the explosion of meaty flavor that was such a contrast to the sip I’d just had. Back to the wine I returned only to find that it was in fact alive and perhaps it was my taste buds that were asleep. First flavors of allspice hit, the cassis along with a dried dark fruit, and some of the pepper I’d been looking for followed with a hint of tobacco; a bit of cocoa still developed, and the allspice pushed more toward anise as the flavors finished.

I continued to nip at the bottle throughout the rest of the meal (me with my sweet potato and my wife with her standard baking potatoes). She mentioned that she didn’t really like it with her steak all that much (more that it wasn’t remarkable to her), but that with her butter and sour cream laden potato she was much happier with it. I decided that I wanted to taste this head-to-head with another CF, so I dug up a bottle of the 2014 Lucas & Lewellen CF (I couldn’t make myself compare this to the WineSmith CFs) and poured glasses for both of us. The differences were remarkable and both of us preferred the L&L both with the meal and independently as it had a more substantial feel and more complex flavors.

One of the most curious things to me about this wine is how heavy it felt at different temperatures. When colder, it felt like a snuggly blanket draped across my lap, comforting and warm. But once the wine had shed its chill, that became something more akin to a silk sheet—fine and smooth, but without the substance that one expects of a blanket.

I spent a little time scavenging through my fridge and pantry to see what I could find that would make this Martin Ray CF pop a bit. I had some leftover grilled pork chops which were fine, but with a bit of LilyQ Smoke BBQ sauce produced a surprisingly good pairing. Apples, chocolate, caramel, cheese, tortilla chips… I kept trying and everything was just fine, but the lack of something in the wine just left it feeling like it had been hollowed. I poured another small glass and sit it into the fridge for twenty minutes, and upon pulling it out I was greeted with that friendlier feel I wanted, but it would only last as long as the chill stuck around.

Just before 23:00 (I’ve been laboring on this bottle for hours now, it’s a tough job you know?) I poured a bit more into a glass to have a final dram to ponder before I retired for the evening. And there it is. There’s the CF I wanted to find, with some nine hours of air. It filled out its profile and the wispiness of a few hours ago was banished with the bite of pepper and earthy leaves and herbs. Hmm—maybe even a hint of leather on the finish. It is more similar to the L&L in terms of feel now, but also different. Now I’m conflicted.

This morning I poured the last of the bottle into my glass, having left the last couple ounces stoppered on the counter overnight. The weight and flavors are well developed, and this feels like the wine that I wanted to have half a day ago. It is tasty, complex, and lingers. Perhaps if I’d opened this and properly decanted a couple of hours my whole experience might be different, but that’s not how it went down.

If someone had handed me a glass of this without any info I would not have guessed a CF if it tasted like it did at dinner last night… I would have considered it perhaps a Negroamaro, Nebbiolo, or a lighter Montepulciano. It lacked the character I associate in my brain with CF. But this morning, I feel differently, and naming it a CF would be much more likely if not easy.

Although I have significant love for Cabernet Franc in general, this is one that I don’t think will find a place in my cellar. While there were certain conditions I could create where I found it enjoyable, I had to try a little too hard to coax the experience out of the bottle for my style of planning and drinking (much of my wine ends up being spontaneous opens with company).

I really appreciate the opportunity to give this wine a try and share my thoughts with you lovely folks. It is great that we have a community where we can give honest reviews and enjoy civil discourse. And silly gifs.

i love the labrat program! (if i do say so myself…).

The unexpected email foretold an unlooked-for surprise: “Package Scheduled for Delivery Tomorrow, You must be 21 years of age to sign for this package”. In a world of excessive notification an unanticipated delivery is thrilling. The bottle was delivered at 5pm yesterday, just in time for supper. Martin Ray bottles have impressive heft and the broad shoulder suggests nonpareil elegance.

I uncorked the bottle and immediately poured a glass. The wine is cold from sitting on a delivery truck all day in near-freezing temperatures. The natural cork is darkly stained about 1/8” along its length. It is dark ruby with very long, slowly developing legs. Muted nose, some ripe berry. Oh wow: it has a very full, dense body. Some oak but is very balanced, has a very long finish (about 8s.) Little perceptible tannin; elegant and refined with a dusty back of the throat grip like tobacco and earth.

We enjoyed this wine with what superficially seemed a sub-optimal dinner pairing of roasted salmon with jalapeno citrus sauce. It actually worked, however, owing to the acidity and depth of the wine. My wife found it to be very smooth with a thick, buttery mouthfeel. She detected light plum or cherry along with some vanilla.
I tasted the wine over the course of the night and found the oak to be a bit much as the wine warmed in the glass. What was a dash of complexity gave way to a saccharine perception of sweetness that was at odds with my prior assessment. We tasted it with a variety of meats and cheeses and found it to pair nicely with aged cheddar, chevre and goat gouda. Where the wine really stood out was the salami. It coaxed a savory, earthy note out of a relatively transparent wine. I think this wine would pair nicely with game or smoked poultry.

I had a small taste this morning (the things I do for you, my Casemates) and found a more pronounced dark plum aroma. The oak has settled down and given way to a juicy acidity, like cherries and cream. I want to love this wine but I just can’t. I mean, it is clearly well made and probably a great reflection of the terroir, but it just isn’t my jam. Those who are looking for a versatile red wine to pair with meats, cheeses and especially gamey or exotic meats will love it. Thanks so much to Wine Country Connect, Martin Ray and the whole Casemates gang for making this possible.

*Apologies for the badly composed photo. Still trying to figure out a place to take pictures in my house with a white background and decent lighting. The 5pm delivery precluded an out-of-doors shot here in Ohio.

Question for the winery about whether these would stand up to an additional 10-15 year cellaring. I like aged wines, and it sounds like they haven’t quite reached their potential, plus the acidity and tannins sound like they could still hold up.

Not seeing anything related to CF on the producers website, and very low CT quantities/notes.

Rats…?
@kaolis, you got anything