The father of Cabernet Sauvignon, this grape is among the most challenging to work with and seldom is bottled as a pure varietal. Its great vigor requires bright sunlight and limiting soil to prevent excessive fruit shading, but its delicate aromas will also easily burn off.
Diamond Ridge is located in a sunny, high-altitude site with rocky volcanic soils which force Cabernet Franc to put its energy into pushing its roots down into the rock, resulting in a lively mineral energy in the wine’s finish. These conditions develop good color and firm but refined tannins which impart amazing age-worthiness.
Because of its proximity to Clear Lake, the site is also blessed with a “lake effect” – a daily visit from the cooling breezes off this deep body of water, the largest in the State. The consequence is that the plum and cinnamon aromas the grape develops are conserved. The combination of rich fruit aromatics, firm tannin structure and lively minerality make this among the most complete and collectible expressions of Cabernet Franc in the New World.
The 2017 was harvested on September 27, fermented traditionally with extended maceration, and aged in neutral French oak for 56 months to resolve its incredible reductive strength. For roundness and fat, we co-fermented with 23% Merlot. Age has added a tobacco bouquet to its spicy cherry and rosemary aromas which resemble a well-aged Graves. The resulting palate possesses a sweet core of fruit which is framed by soft tannins and a bright mineral finish.
A perfect accompaniment to steak béarnaise or wild mushroom dishes, the wine loves open fires and Bruce Springsteen’s Jungleland. We Smiths offer small lots of extraordinary hand-crafted wines which explore French winemaking traditions in California.
Specs
77% Cabernet Franc Clone 1
Estate vineyard, Clear Lake AVA
Harvested 28 September
24.1 Brix
23% Merlot Clone 181
Estate vineyard, Clear Lake AVA
Harvested 27 September
25.3 Brix
Fermentation techniques:
Anchor NT112 yeast
7.5 g/L untoasted Alliers chips
11-day maceration
Elevage details:
Three weeks microbüllage pre ML
56 months in neutral French oak
Alcohol sweet spot at 13.5%
pH 3.72 at bottling
What’s Included
3-bottles:
3x 2017 WineSmith Cabernet Franc, Lake County Case:
Clark Smith is an MIT drop-out who wandered out to California in 1972 and sold wine retail in the Bay Area for several years, where he acquired a love of Bordeaux, Burgundy and all things French and observed first hand the California winery explosion in the 1970s. After a three year stint at Veedercrest Vineyards, he secured enology training at UC Davis and spent the 1980s as founding winemaker for The R.H. Phillips Vineyard in Yolo County. In 1990, he founded WineSmith Consulting and patented a group of new winemaking techniques involving reverse osmosis, spinning off Vinovation, which went on to become the world’s largest wine production consulting firm over its 17-year history.
Frustrated with California’s winemaking trends, Clark started WineSmith Cellars in 1993 as a teaching winery to make Eurocentric wines to explore traditions beyond the mainstream, expanding for his winemaking clients the range of possibility for California fruit. Choosing to create long-term partnerships with committed growers rather than growing his own grapes, Clark has become a renowned expert on Cabernet Franc, having vinified twenty vintages from a wide variety of sites.
Teaching at Napa Valley College gave him access to the Student Vineyard for Faux Chablis and his Pauillac-style $100 “Crucible” Cabernet Sauvignon. From Renaissance Vineyards in North Yuba County, he has made a sulfite-free Roman Syrah and also produces a Pinot Noir from Fiddlestix Vineyard in the Santa Rita Hills in a delicate, age-worthy Côtes de Beaune style. These wines are vinified in an ancient beat-up warehouse in Sebastopol, California.
WineSmith wines are noted for their longevity, classic balance, structural integrity, minerality, and understated soulfulness. They often are aged extensively prior to release. When drinking a WineSmith wine, always ask yourself “What is this wine trying to teach me?” Clark is a vocal advocate of living soil and graceful longevity, and generally avoids excessive oak, alcohol, or extended hang-time. He is not shy about employing new tools when they are needed, such as alcohol adjustment to bring fruit into balance or micro-oxygenation to build refined structure, but always fully discloses techniques which are controversial and is outspoken in explaining his rationale.
His book, Postmodern Winemaking, is the culmination of four decades of reflection on wine’s true nature.
Available States
AZ, CA, CO, CT, DC, FL, GA, ID, IL, IN, IA, LA, ME, MD, MA, MI, MN, MO, MT, NE, NV, NJ, NM, NY, NC, OH, OK, OR, PA, RI, SC, SD, TX, VT, VA, WA, WV, WI, WY
@ShotgunX This wine was a little tight upon PnP, but opened up nicely after a couple hours. I would say an hour or so in a decanter would put it in a good spot.
Hello everyone, and Happy Thanksgiving! Early this week we received the email from Alice we had a Lab Rat bottle on the way! Upon reception of the package from the local UPS store, we were delighted to find a bottle of 2017 WineSmith Cabernet Franc!
First, a little back story. The 2007 and 2008 WineSmith Cab Francs were both gateway wines for my wife and I, and really helped to kick start our wine exploration journey way back in the WW days. We love a lot of Clark’s wines, but not all of them as we find some to be too experimental. We both absolutely appreciate the fact someone is pushing the boundaries, and it is one quality of American wine we love!
We planned to open the 2017 next to a bottle each of 2007, 2008, and 2016, but unfortunately our remaining 2007s and 2008s are offsite and we couldn’t make it to them before this offer went live. We do not have any 2010s as our case was cooked in transit But! We did drink it next to a 2016 to give some comparison.
Tasting was myself, my wife, and our early 20s nephew who enjoys wine and has been learning the ropes from us. We all enjoy dry reds, and all three have experience with cab franc and specifically WineSmith CF. We tasted the wines semi-blind (we knew what the wines were but not which glass was which wine) from universal glasses. Our nephew mostly agreed with our notes, but I am including him in the description to justify having 6 glasses of wine for two people’s perspective
The 2017 continues with the traditional WineSmith labeling to which we are all accustomed and matches the 2016 minus the vintage and ABV. Interestingly the 2017 did not arrive with a capsule. Popping corks showed the 2016 having a slight amount of creep and the 2017 utilizing an agglomerated specimen. Both were very slightly stained a light pink color.
Both wines showed similar colors being clear and a deeper shade of red with some slight bricking around the edges representative of their age.
PnP of the 2017 at cellar temp and I got red fruit, some smoke house aromas, and some oak on initial whiff. My wife smelled dark cherry, raspberry, blueberry, and perhaps a hint of vanilla. A swirl brought out some blueberries and raspberries. First sip and all three of us said, “Wow, this is juicy!” The red fruit and blueberries continued for me on the palate for myself, with my wife getting blueberries and cherry. The wine was dry, medium bodied, higher acidity, medium tannins, and a medium finish. This wine could use some time with air; we will revisit.
The 2016, also PnP at cellar temp, was dusty, juicy, and some blueberries for myself, with my wife blueberry and some slight vegetal notes (definitely not green pepper, she said closer to carrot). After a swirl the dust blew off and we were left with cola and some alcohol. First sip and I tasted the vegetal component from the nose, oak, strong gripping tannins, and some coffee. My wife called blueberry, cola, and vanilla on the palate. The wine was dry, medium bodied, medium acidity, and high tannins. Again, this one could use some air.
4 hours later with the wine open on the table, the 2017 nose is juicy red fruit and cocoa. My wife was getting some acetone, but my nephew and I did not smell it (but her palate might be fatigued from some bubbles between tastings?). The palate is tart cranberries, some alcohol, and still the acidity really sings. This wine went through a bit of a muted phase between hours 2 – 4 but is really starting to open up. We are saving ½ a bottle corked under air in the fridge for a tasting tomorrow.
The 2016 at 4 hours and the nose is cherry cola and some red fruit with my wife adding blueberry and vanilla. The palate is cocoa, juicy red fruit, good acidity and still some tannic grip. We also saved ½ a bottle under air in the fridge for tasting tomorrow.
A couple interesting notes. First, none of us have ever called ‘juicy’ in a tasting note on a wine, but both of these immediately gave us that impression. I think it was the singing acidity, but it is an enjoyable aspect of both of these bottles. My wife did not enjoy the 2017, while my nephew and I both really liked it. This is interesting because we typically find consensus on these types of wines.
We were listening to some big band softly in the background, but the audio experience was dominated by conversation this evening. I am sure a different music selection and a more detailed listening experience could have brought out additional layers in the wine. Clark, what do you recommend for tomorrow?
Overall, these are both really solid bottles of cabernet franc. Clark once again hit it out of the park and if you enjoy Lake County CF, the 2017 should be in your wheelhouse. This wine keeps to the proven formula for past WineSmith cab francs. I will update tomorrow, but I would guess this wine would easily last another decade when stored properly, but it was enjoyable this evening and I wouldn’t think twice about opening it an hour or so before dinner with a good decant. Clark does a great job with canopy management to minimize the ‘green pepper’ you get in other cab francs. I would be interested to know the barrel regime, and I am sure he will have all kinds of additional wine nerd specs! Thanks to Alice, Wine David, and the rest of the Casemates team for the bottle!
@knlprez@winesmith Clark, you mention The Boss as your music pairing. Have you ever had the chance to meet him? I am lucky enough to have seen him live 3x. I know you otherwise suggest classical music and the like, but I am curious if your connections and his ever connected.
The wine was pulled from the refrigerator and allowed to warm for about 45 minutes before tasting. The nose is bright candied cherry and strawberry, a swirl gives some blueberries. My SO also called some faint apple. The palate still has a lot of acidity and tannins, some oak is present, and cherry. The wine is more integrated today and is drinking well. I’d have no hesitation to let this one age for quite some time.
Oi, 3 or 12? We love the Winesmith CFs, but so overloaded with all the excellent offerings these past couple months, would’ve gone for 6 easily, now we need to sternly furrow our brows approaching this offer. The quandary? 3: way way too few. 12: yikes, where are we going to put that, and, y’know, budgeting?
Feel like we are being manipulated into a case - We’re in La Honda - any one in the mid/southern San Mateo County/Northern Santa Cruz County/ southern Santa Clara County area want to do a 6/6 split? We’ll do the buy.
@deanerino@jrbw3@ttboy23 STOP IT CASEMATES!
/giphy underrated-old-caper
Let me know if anyone wants this, too!
I promise I’ll stop…UPS is going to hate me. My credit card actually declined my first attempt lol…too much Black Friday shopping I guess.
@kasandrae possibly. I just got two cases of the two Jake’s mystery and had a lot of cab franc, but if you’re pushing it and meeting up with me anyway for yester-deal I may be in.:)
I was sort of hoping this offer would not come out until after the holidays. Way too much wine, and the mystery case is on the way too! I expect the is going to be about the last of this, and I just can’t miss out.
How much more are you saving by buying a full case?
(Note: tax and shipping are not included in savings calculations).
2017 WineSmith Cabernet Franc - $52 = 24.52%
Got a little ambushed by the guy in the brown truck who had a double bottle sized box under his arm rather than the case I’m still expecting. Super happy to find, upon opening, a bottle from my favorite outfit: WineSmith. Not my favorite varietal, but I’ve enjoyed Clark’s CF offerings in at least 5 vintages. Set it aside to rest up from its journey while doing the back calculations… click, clank,bonk, clink, bash, click, DING!: Need to open this bottle on Thanksgiving!
OK, we’ll have plenty of opinions to curate. Cutting to the chase: Decided to open it at noon(ish), expecting it will benefit from some time to open up in time for early dinner.
Upon PnP, darker red than expected, a little bricky looking, pretty opaque. On the nose: alcohol whiff, (is that ether?) no significant fruit smell. Quick taste of red fruits smooth, short finish. Wife found the taste “acidy - astringent.” FIL thought it was “pleasant, not complex”, he didn’t get much on the nose. Getting news that family coming for dinner would be a little delayed, I decided to have a snack of a small slice of pizza (pepperoni with olives) with it. This worked fine, but wasn’t an amazing match. After these small tasting pours, decanted into a wide bottom flask for 3 hours.
After a small delay in guest arrival, sat for TG dinner (glazed ham, mashed potatoes and vegan mushroom gravy (AMAZING), cranberry relish, kale salad, stuffing (GF, was just ok), kale, sweet potato and cranberry casserole) and poured dinner sized portions all round. After two sips, despite the great food tastes going, I could not choke down the rest of a glass. Explosion of green pepper taste overwhelmed all other flavors, including food. Nose was just ether-y alcohol, no fruit detectable. Fortunately, another red was available (the grenache heavy blend I picked out before getting the LabRat bottle) and met the need.
After another try with post-walk dessert (NOPE) rebottled it and vacced for overnight on-counter storage.
Day 2: one more sip, for science, and poured the rest out.
On the basis of this single particular bottle, I’d have to regretfully advise passing on this offer. Maybe Clark will weigh in on possible causes and impacts on others in this batch? I did not enjoy writing this, especially considering how much I’ve enjoyed so many other bottles from this fine producer.
@kls_in_MD bummer on the bottle! It’s always sad pouring out a wine, especially one you expected to really enjoy. We didn’t get any vegetal notes on our rat bottle, and it’s something my wife and I look for in a CF (we do not really enjoy that flavor in wine). We are doing a day 2 tasting this afternoon and it will be interesting to see if ours falls apart like yours did after the decant.
Second case purchase in a week. Good thing the holidays are coming up? Excited to taste this next to the 2016 I have downstairs!
/giphy winning-playful-drawer
I can’t believe I’m getting another case…or maybe I can. Really liked the previous CF, and this is a better price, and lower alcohol, which I appreciate. Not sure where this is going to go, the ‘wine cellar’ is getting full and I still am waiting on 2 cases of the Two Jakes.
/giphy clumsy-rough-okra
@ddeuddeg@outdoorslife If you have no reations in adjacent states as suggested, we can honor the deal direct from the winery if there’s any left. Just call Sandra Monday at 707-332-0056, 9AM - 4PM PST.
hi - at the risk of sounding noobish, is this going to hang around until Sunday? it’s WineSmith, after all, so why not just hit the order button, but after KLS’s labrat, (and let’s be honest, the stuffed and soon-to-be overstuffed wine cabinet after the BF deals), I want to gather a bit more feedback from you all before I hit the buy button. thanks
@frankster14 Yes, this will still be around.
Sellouts have been quite rare for the past couple of years. I think there has only been 3-5 sellouts so far in 2023.
In response to @kls_in_MD unhappy lab ratage, we sent a couple samples off to the lab from the same case I drew the lab samples from. Both bottles came back with a very high level of acetic acid bacteria and volatile acidity. Most of you know I don’t like to sterile bottle, but in this case it seems to have backfired on us.
I’m hoping the problem is confined to this one case. We’ve poured the wine at our tasting room for a couple months with no complaints.
As a result, we’re holding back shipping the wine while we do more sampling. If the problem runs through the whole lot, we’ll refund everybody’s money. Please stand by while we investigate further.
@winesmith thanks for the update Clark, you know our feedback is accurate and fair and we have enough trust with you to deliver the information either way.
Today’s email:
We have an unfortunate update on your order of WineSmith Cabernet Franc.
When it was time to ship your wine, we found it undrinkable due to a mistake during the winemaking process where the wine has “volatile acidity” and made the decision not to ship it. We have issued a refund for the order back to your card. You’ll see that show up within 48 hours depending on how quickly your bank processes refunds.
In addition to this email, you will also be receiving an automated cancellation email.
We now have the results back from randomly sampled bottles from our stock of WineSmith 2017 Cabernet Franc. Unfortunately, they indicate that a VA problem indicated by @kls_in_MD is spread throughout the lot.
This is quite surprising since our tasting of these wines was positive, as the other lab rat, @knlprez, concurred. I didn’t pick it up either when I recorded the video.
Our theory is that this wine, which is well-structured according to the techniques I was taught in France, has an amazing ability to conceal acetic acid within the structure.
Nevertheless, we are not comfortable fulfilling orders, and value our relationship with Casemates and its customers far beyond the revenue from this sale.
Therefore, we asked Casemates to issue refunds to all customers and we will arrange to pick up the wine and return it to our warehouse in Somerset while we consider what actions to take.
We greatly appreciate everybody’s forbearance in this matter. I hope that taking appropriate action will be appreciated by our long-time fans.
@klezman Yes, reminds me of when I lost the Faux Chablis vineyard after six miraculous vintages-- torn out to make Crucible. But that was out with a blaze of glory. This is, well, more inglorious.
I could be maudlin and quote T.S. Elliot: “This is the way the world ends – not with a bang but a whimper.” But I don’t see it that way. As I enter my seniority, I’ve been preparing for a new phase of WineSmith for a decade or so, looking for projects that don’t require quite so much age. I’ve proven well enough that Cab Franc, even sulfite-free Cab Franc, can and should be aged for decades. My 2001 Faux Chablis and 2008 Pinot Noir are further proof - all impossible wines.
Been there, done that. Now I’m changing my tune a bit, with wines that are still quite ageworthy but that come around quicker, such as the Heringer Tannat, the Tejada Tempranillo, the Petit Manseng solera, the Lester Pinot Noir (soon to be released) the SCM Grenache, and the Clarksburg Cab Sauv.
In this I am following in the footsteps of Randall Grahm’s new style Cigar Volant and the new Noval Black Reserve – imminently drinkable, affordable wines for the common man/woman that still provide Franklin’s proof that God loves us and desires us to be happy.
Happy holidays to everyone. Catch you on the flip side.
2017 WineSmith Cabernet Franc, Lake County
Tasting Notes
Specs
What’s Included
3-bottles:
Case:
Price Comparison
$480/Case for 12x 2017 WineSmith Cabernet Franc, Lake Count at WineSmith Cellars
About The Winery
Available States
AZ, CA, CO, CT, DC, FL, GA, ID, IL, IN, IA, LA, ME, MD, MA, MI, MN, MO, MT, NE, NV, NJ, NM, NY, NC, OH, OK, OR, PA, RI, SC, SD, TX, VT, VA, WA, WV, WI, WY
Estimated Delivery
Monday, Dec 18 - Wednesday, Dec 20
This price is nuts. Auto buy! Beautiful wine in past vintages. Hadn’t had this one.
2017 WineSmith Cabernet Franc
3 bottles for $52.99 $17.66/bottle + $2.67/bottle shipping
Case of 12 for $159.99 $13.33/bottle + $1/bottle shipping
Can this be consumed right away, or is this one of those that need to be aged for a while?
@ShotgunX This wine was a little tight upon PnP, but opened up nicely after a couple hours. I would say an hour or so in a decanter would put it in a good spot.
@ShotgunX I’d say that like previous vintages, it drinks quite well with a little breathing but will develop on subsequent aging.
“The 2016 was harvested on September 27…” OK, but…
@InFrom Nothing on the back label to shed light on the question.
@InFrom @knlprez @winesmith
Hey Clark, we need a copy editor sanity check here…
@InFrom @knlprez @rjquillin Ah, so I see. I have made the correction. Thanks.
@InFrom @knlprez @winesmith
To confirm
should be corrected to read
The 2017 was harvested on September 27
2017 WineSmith Cabernet Franc
Hello everyone, and Happy Thanksgiving! Early this week we received the email from Alice we had a Lab Rat bottle on the way! Upon reception of the package from the local UPS store, we were delighted to find a bottle of 2017 WineSmith Cabernet Franc!
First, a little back story. The 2007 and 2008 WineSmith Cab Francs were both gateway wines for my wife and I, and really helped to kick start our wine exploration journey way back in the WW days. We love a lot of Clark’s wines, but not all of them as we find some to be too experimental. We both absolutely appreciate the fact someone is pushing the boundaries, and it is one quality of American wine we love!
We planned to open the 2017 next to a bottle each of 2007, 2008, and 2016, but unfortunately our remaining 2007s and 2008s are offsite and we couldn’t make it to them before this offer went live. We do not have any 2010s as our case was cooked in transit
But! We did drink it next to a 2016 to give some comparison.
Tasting was myself, my wife, and our early 20s nephew who enjoys wine and has been learning the ropes from us. We all enjoy dry reds, and all three have experience with cab franc and specifically WineSmith CF. We tasted the wines semi-blind (we knew what the wines were but not which glass was which wine) from universal glasses. Our nephew mostly agreed with our notes, but I am including him in the description to justify having 6 glasses of wine for two people’s perspective
The 2017 continues with the traditional WineSmith labeling to which we are all accustomed and matches the 2016 minus the vintage and ABV. Interestingly the 2017 did not arrive with a capsule. Popping corks showed the 2016 having a slight amount of creep and the 2017 utilizing an agglomerated specimen. Both were very slightly stained a light pink color.
Both wines showed similar colors being clear and a deeper shade of red with some slight bricking around the edges representative of their age.
PnP of the 2017 at cellar temp and I got red fruit, some smoke house aromas, and some oak on initial whiff. My wife smelled dark cherry, raspberry, blueberry, and perhaps a hint of vanilla. A swirl brought out some blueberries and raspberries. First sip and all three of us said, “Wow, this is juicy!” The red fruit and blueberries continued for me on the palate for myself, with my wife getting blueberries and cherry. The wine was dry, medium bodied, higher acidity, medium tannins, and a medium finish. This wine could use some time with air; we will revisit.
The 2016, also PnP at cellar temp, was dusty, juicy, and some blueberries for myself, with my wife blueberry and some slight vegetal notes (definitely not green pepper, she said closer to carrot). After a swirl the dust blew off and we were left with cola and some alcohol. First sip and I tasted the vegetal component from the nose, oak, strong gripping tannins, and some coffee. My wife called blueberry, cola, and vanilla on the palate. The wine was dry, medium bodied, medium acidity, and high tannins. Again, this one could use some air.
4 hours later with the wine open on the table, the 2017 nose is juicy red fruit and cocoa. My wife was getting some acetone, but my nephew and I did not smell it (but her palate might be fatigued from some bubbles between tastings?). The palate is tart cranberries, some alcohol, and still the acidity really sings. This wine went through a bit of a muted phase between hours 2 – 4 but is really starting to open up. We are saving ½ a bottle corked under air in the fridge for a tasting tomorrow.
The 2016 at 4 hours and the nose is cherry cola and some red fruit with my wife adding blueberry and vanilla. The palate is cocoa, juicy red fruit, good acidity and still some tannic grip. We also saved ½ a bottle under air in the fridge for tasting tomorrow.
A couple interesting notes. First, none of us have ever called ‘juicy’ in a tasting note on a wine, but both of these immediately gave us that impression. I think it was the singing acidity, but it is an enjoyable aspect of both of these bottles. My wife did not enjoy the 2017, while my nephew and I both really liked it. This is interesting because we typically find consensus on these types of wines.
We were listening to some big band softly in the background, but the audio experience was dominated by conversation this evening. I am sure a different music selection and a more detailed listening experience could have brought out additional layers in the wine. Clark, what do you recommend for tomorrow?
Overall, these are both really solid bottles of cabernet franc. Clark once again hit it out of the park and if you enjoy Lake County CF, the 2017 should be in your wheelhouse. This wine keeps to the proven formula for past WineSmith cab francs. I will update tomorrow, but I would guess this wine would easily last another decade when stored properly, but it was enjoyable this evening and I wouldn’t think twice about opening it an hour or so before dinner with a good decant. Clark does a great job with canopy management to minimize the ‘green pepper’ you get in other cab francs. I would be interested to know the barrel regime, and I am sure he will have all kinds of additional wine nerd specs! Thanks to Alice, Wine David, and the rest of the Casemates team for the bottle!
@knlprez
Spot on review and observations. Thanks for your dilligence.
My favorite wine and music combination is a big claret glass of this wine in the dark with something on fire and Bruce Springsteen’s Jungleland on 11.
@knlprez @winesmith Clark, you mention The Boss as your music pairing. Have you ever had the chance to meet him? I am lucky enough to have seen him live 3x. I know you otherwise suggest classical music and the like, but I am curious if your connections and his ever connected.
@knlprez @KNmeh7 Alas, no, though we grew up very near to one another. Closest was to catch his amazing act in SF.
@knlprez
2017 Day Two!
The wine was pulled from the refrigerator and allowed to warm for about 45 minutes before tasting. The nose is bright candied cherry and strawberry, a swirl gives some blueberries. My SO also called some faint apple. The palate still has a lot of acidity and tannins, some oak is present, and cherry. The wine is more integrated today and is drinking well. I’d have no hesitation to let this one age for quite some time.
Oi, 3 or 12? We love the Winesmith CFs, but so overloaded with all the excellent offerings these past couple months, would’ve gone for 6 easily, now we need to sternly furrow our brows approaching this offer. The quandary? 3: way way too few. 12: yikes, where are we going to put that, and, y’know, budgeting?
Feel like we are being manipulated into a case - We’re in La Honda - any one in the mid/southern San Mateo County/Northern Santa Cruz County/ southern Santa Clara County area want to do a 6/6 split? We’ll do the buy.
I am thinking i am in and Ugh I see no TN in the list. Hmm.
@douglasp60 I know I’ve been able to order WineSmith here before, but I can’t this time.
@deanerino @jrbw3 @ttboy23 STOP IT CASEMATES!
/giphy underrated-old-caper
Let me know if anyone wants this, too!
I promise I’ll stop…UPS is going to hate me. My credit card actually declined my first attempt lol…too much Black Friday shopping I guess.
@kasandrae well it wasn’t a Chardonnay-nay sale
@kasandrae possibly. I just got two cases of the two Jake’s mystery and had a lot of cab franc, but if you’re pushing it and meeting up with me anyway for yester-deal I may be in.:)
@deanerino Up to you…I never have “too much” wine, and need to share, but I’m willing if you want
I was sort of hoping this offer would not come out until after the holidays. Way too much wine, and the mystery case is on the way too! I expect the is going to be about the last of this, and I just can’t miss out.
/giphy urgent-ginormous-pickle
/giphy drifting-washable-cinnamon
@thinksno16 I worked at a school in the North Country and we got a video of an Amish buggy drifting in the back parking lot one snowy winter night.
How much more are you saving by buying a full case?
(Note: tax and shipping are not included in savings calculations).
2017 WineSmith Cabernet Franc - $52 = 24.52%
Got a little ambushed by the guy in the brown truck who had a double bottle sized box under his arm rather than the case I’m still expecting. Super happy to find, upon opening, a bottle from my favorite outfit: WineSmith. Not my favorite varietal, but I’ve enjoyed Clark’s CF offerings in at least 5 vintages. Set it aside to rest up from its journey while doing the back calculations… click, clank,bonk, clink, bash, click, DING!: Need to open this bottle on Thanksgiving!
OK, we’ll have plenty of opinions to curate. Cutting to the chase: Decided to open it at noon(ish), expecting it will benefit from some time to open up in time for early dinner.
Upon PnP, darker red than expected, a little bricky looking, pretty opaque. On the nose: alcohol whiff, (is that ether?) no significant fruit smell. Quick taste of red fruits smooth, short finish. Wife found the taste “acidy - astringent.” FIL thought it was “pleasant, not complex”, he didn’t get much on the nose. Getting news that family coming for dinner would be a little delayed, I decided to have a snack of a small slice of pizza (pepperoni with olives) with it. This worked fine, but wasn’t an amazing match. After these small tasting pours, decanted into a wide bottom flask for 3 hours.
After a small delay in guest arrival, sat for TG dinner (glazed ham, mashed potatoes and vegan mushroom gravy (AMAZING), cranberry relish, kale salad, stuffing (GF, was just ok), kale, sweet potato and cranberry casserole) and poured dinner sized portions all round. After two sips, despite the great food tastes going, I could not choke down the rest of a glass. Explosion of green pepper taste overwhelmed all other flavors, including food. Nose was just ether-y alcohol, no fruit detectable. Fortunately, another red was available (the grenache heavy blend I picked out before getting the LabRat bottle) and met the need.
After another try with post-walk dessert (NOPE) rebottled it and vacced for overnight on-counter storage.
Day 2: one more sip, for science, and poured the rest out.
On the basis of this single particular bottle, I’d have to regretfully advise passing on this offer. Maybe Clark will weigh in on possible causes and impacts on others in this batch? I did not enjoy writing this, especially considering how much I’ve enjoyed so many other bottles from this fine producer.
@kls_in_MD Dear me. We seem to have sent you a spoiled bottle. My apologies. Certainly not the wine I described in my video. Thanks for your candor.
@kls_in_MD bummer on the bottle! It’s always sad pouring out a wine, especially one you expected to really enjoy. We didn’t get any vegetal notes on our rat bottle, and it’s something my wife and I look for in a CF (we do not really enjoy that flavor in wine). We are doing a day 2 tasting this afternoon and it will be interesting to see if ours falls apart like yours did after the decant.
@kls_in_MD I’m curious if you’re sensitive to or just don’t like green bell peppers perhaps?
Second case purchase in a week. Good thing the holidays are coming up? Excited to taste this next to the 2016 I have downstairs!
/giphy winning-playful-drawer
Such a good deal on a wonderful wine. Got a case and going to be kicking myself for not getting more later.
I can’t believe I’m getting another case…or maybe I can. Really liked the previous CF, and this is a better price, and lower alcohol, which I appreciate. Not sure where this is going to go, the ‘wine cellar’ is getting full and I still am waiting on 2 cases of the Two Jakes.
/giphy clumsy-rough-okra
@drgonzo99 Your giphy says it all
.
@drgonzo99 I could have written the same post, word for word! Sounds like we will both have a lot of cab franc on our hands…
@drgonzo99 @wnance SAME here
!Not to bad of a problem to have
@dawnlac @wnance Yes, could be worse
The highest percentage of bottles down there, by a lot, is WineSmith. And Two Jakes is second. Thanks Clark!
@winesmith how can NH get in on a case?
@outdoorslife Have it sent to a UPS Depot in VT, MA, or NY.
@ddeuddeg @outdoorslife If you have no reations in adjacent states as suggested, we can honor the deal direct from the winery if there’s any left. Just call Sandra Monday at 707-332-0056, 9AM - 4PM PST.
hi - at the risk of sounding noobish, is this going to hang around until Sunday? it’s WineSmith, after all, so why not just hit the order button, but after KLS’s labrat, (and let’s be honest, the stuffed and soon-to-be overstuffed wine cabinet after the BF deals), I want to gather a bit more feedback from you all before I hit the buy button. thanks
@frankster14 Yes, this will still be around.
Sellouts have been quite rare for the past couple of years. I think there has only been 3-5 sellouts so far in 2023.
@Drez143 @frankster14
Six
See https://casemates.com/forum/topics/sell-outs
Two Jakes was the most recent, Scott Harvey, Tercero and others
Wine Smith has never failed me. Cab Franc is one of my favs when well-wrangled. I’m in for a case.
My wine storage is near or past its capacity. Anyone in CMH want to split a case? lol
@smoothie72 In
@itsjer @smoothie72 I’d be in for a few bottles as well if you are looking for additional takers
@itsjer
You in for 6? I’ll pull the trigger
/giphy fabulous-catchy-thrill
No room, no money, in for a case.
What’s going on in SoCal with splits? I’m surprised I haven’t seen any chatter
/giphy fluid-laughing-actor
I hate to pass on a @winesmith offer, but I cannot take on additional storage.
Darn, I missed it. Always love Clark’s wines.
In response to @kls_in_MD unhappy lab ratage, we sent a couple samples off to the lab from the same case I drew the lab samples from. Both bottles came back with a very high level of acetic acid bacteria and volatile acidity. Most of you know I don’t like to sterile bottle, but in this case it seems to have backfired on us.
I’m hoping the problem is confined to this one case. We’ve poured the wine at our tasting room for a couple months with no complaints.
As a result, we’re holding back shipping the wine while we do more sampling. If the problem runs through the whole lot, we’ll refund everybody’s money. Please stand by while we investigate further.
@winesmith good on you, Clark!
@winesmith thanks for the update Clark, you know our feedback is accurate and fair and we have enough trust with you to deliver the information either way.
Today’s email:
We have an unfortunate update on your order of WineSmith Cabernet Franc.
When it was time to ship your wine, we found it undrinkable due to a mistake during the winemaking process where the wine has “volatile acidity” and made the decision not to ship it. We have issued a refund for the order back to your card. You’ll see that show up within 48 hours depending on how quickly your bank processes refunds.
In addition to this email, you will also be receiving an automated cancellation email.
I was told not to cry over spilled milk.
But I might cry over spilled Cabernet Franc.
We now have the results back from randomly sampled bottles from our stock of WineSmith 2017 Cabernet Franc. Unfortunately, they indicate that a VA problem indicated by @kls_in_MD is spread throughout the lot.
This is quite surprising since our tasting of these wines was positive, as the other lab rat, @knlprez, concurred. I didn’t pick it up either when I recorded the video.
Our theory is that this wine, which is well-structured according to the techniques I was taught in France, has an amazing ability to conceal acetic acid within the structure.
Nevertheless, we are not comfortable fulfilling orders, and value our relationship with Casemates and its customers far beyond the revenue from this sale.
Therefore, we asked Casemates to issue refunds to all customers and we will arrange to pick up the wine and return it to our warehouse in Somerset while we consider what actions to take.
We greatly appreciate everybody’s forbearance in this matter. I hope that taking appropriate action will be appreciated by our long-time fans.
Sincerely,
Clark
@winesmith bummer that you lose all this wine. Especially if it’s one of your last vintages from diamond ridge.
@winesmith Wow, not good news for anyone; you Jake, WD and all of us wineaux that have followed the adventure now for years…
@klezman Yes, reminds me of when I lost the Faux Chablis vineyard after six miraculous vintages-- torn out to make Crucible. But that was out with a blaze of glory. This is, well, more inglorious.
I could be maudlin and quote T.S. Elliot: “This is the way the world ends – not with a bang but a whimper.” But I don’t see it that way. As I enter my seniority, I’ve been preparing for a new phase of WineSmith for a decade or so, looking for projects that don’t require quite so much age. I’ve proven well enough that Cab Franc, even sulfite-free Cab Franc, can and should be aged for decades. My 2001 Faux Chablis and 2008 Pinot Noir are further proof - all impossible wines.
Been there, done that. Now I’m changing my tune a bit, with wines that are still quite ageworthy but that come around quicker, such as the Heringer Tannat, the Tejada Tempranillo, the Petit Manseng solera, the Lester Pinot Noir (soon to be released) the SCM Grenache, and the Clarksburg Cab Sauv.
In this I am following in the footsteps of Randall Grahm’s new style Cigar Volant and the new Noval Black Reserve – imminently drinkable, affordable wines for the common man/woman that still provide Franklin’s proof that God loves us and desires us to be happy.
Happy holidays to everyone. Catch you on the flip side.
I still have not received a coupon code to use when I order