Self Isolation : Day # 31

2008 Frank Family Cabernet Sauvignon ‘Napa Valley’

Normally I’d be ready to welcome the warm days of spring but the snow we’ve had lately has made days spent inside feel less like a public health safety precaution and more like a snow day. Hey, I’ll take what I can get these days. Comfort food comes with colder weather and more excuses to pull the cork on some bottles that need drinking. Last night’s was the Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon from Frank Family. Based in the heart of the Rutherford A.V.A., Frank Family vinifies their appellation bottling in one of the valley’s original winery buildings. From one of the earliest harvests ever in California, 2008, this bottle hit my ideal balance of primary, secondary, and tertiary flavors of a modern California Cabernet Sauvignon. Deep aromas and flavors of red cherry, cassis, fruit leather, and cedar with hints of button mushroom and dried rosemary were still firmly attached to the full-bodied frame. The ripe tannins and structured acidity were in balance with the developing fruit, having been reigned in by the passage of time.