Today’s Wine Wednesday is dedicated to a wine that I was sent as a sample as part of the #WinePW blogging group that pairs wines with food. It is from the Livermore Valley in California, a place I have never visited in person, only virtually through their wines. I first heard of Livermore Valley years ago at a Society of Wine Educators event in California I believe. At that time, a man who was passionate about his winery, named Steven Kent waxed poetic about the region and the wines. A great ambassador for the area, he sent our group some of his wines to taste. Kent comes from a historic California winery and has a long list of successes attached to his past but I was interested to see this newer wine too. Cabernet Franc is among my top favorite grapes together with Sangiovese and a couple of others. I love its earthy notes, its spice and pepper, it’s depth and acidity. I generally find it balanced and pure. I loved his writing on the grape and his view of it as well. According to Kent, Livermore Valley should be recognized as Cabernet Franc’s home in California, as opposed to say Cabernet Sauvignon in Napa.

As to why Cabernet Franc works so well in Livermore, the Steven Kent wine website notes the following:

The Livermore Valley, given its east-west orientation and proximity to San Francisco Bay is experiencing climate change in a different way. As temperatures rise in the Central Valley, cold air from the Bay is drawn through the Valley earlier in the day and at greater speed than in prior years. Vines shut down and don’t ripen fruit
when it is too windy. Consequently, it takes longer to get fruit ripe.

Cabernet franc does well in cooler climates and is infact grown throughout the US in areas where other red grapes do not do well. Judging from the wine I tried, I would say Steven Kent is on to something. Maybe Cabernet Franc has found its US home afterall.