Posts Written OnOctober 14, 2014

Bloomer Creek Vineyard 2011 Vin d’ete Cabernet Franc

  This isn’t a wine that everyone is going to appreciate. As some would say, this is a cab franc lover’s cab franc. You need to appreciate the earthiness of the grape — the herbal edges too. Bloomer Creek Vineyard 2011 Vin d’ete Cabernet Franc ($18) isn’t driven by bold fruit flavors. The cool, wet 2011 vintage saw to that. Instead, winemaker Kim Engle took what the season gave him, and the result is a unique, impressive wine that the franc lover in me greatly enjoyed. Aromas of Provencal herbs — especially thyme and lavender — float from the glass,…

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Dancing in September: How 2014 Went from Potential Disaster to Potential Cool-Climate Classic

To say that the 2014 vintage was in crisis mode before September is not an understatement. “I’d say it was like 2009, but it was probably in worse shape,” one winemaker who asked not to be identified told me. “Way, way behind in the numbers, and way, way behind in flavor development.” The running joke was that the 2014 wines might be harvested in early 2015. That’s thanks to a snowballing (pardon the too-soon pun) of a brutal and costly winter, a late spring, a cool summer and a cold August. Veraison occurred nearly a month after it did in…

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