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Worthy Family Wines — Making the Harvests Count at a California Estate

BY // 11.12.18

The people at Frank Family Vineyards have been through a good number of harvests — number 25 is this year — and the California winery’s development in that time has been one marked by a thoughtful approach to production and expansion. Visits to the tasting room are lauded highly, especially so after it moved into a Craftsman-style home on the estate.

Above all are the wines, of course. I tasted two current Frank Family releases during the past week — the 2016 Carneros Chardonnay and the 2015 Napa Cabernet Sauvignon — and both were notable for their integrity and value.

A good place to sit and savor: the Frank Family Vineyards tasting room. (Courtesybachtobacchus.blogspot.com)

We’ll start with the Chardonnay (25,000 cases, 14.4 percent ABV), which is distinguished by, among other things, a delicate note of oak. Nothing but Carneros-grown grapes here (most from the Frank Family’s Lewis Vineyard), and some luscious pear, vanilla and citrus, plus wonderful balance (you’ll appreciate the acidity of this wine as well). It does possess a tad of a sweet note that might be off-putting to some, but it did not offend my tasting partners’ palates.

Want something to drink with shrimp? This one is for you.

This wine is fermented for nine months in 34 percent new barrels and 33 percent once-filled and 33 percent twice-filled (French oak). You can purchase it for $38 on the Frank Family website, and I’ve seen it going for $30 at other merchants. Pairing: I loved it with butter-poached shrimp.

The Cabernet Sauvignon is what I’m planning to serve at my next dinner that involves a ribeye. It was the favorite of our tasting panel among the reds we poured, and two of us purchased a bottle the following day. Ruby red in the glass, it’s 86 percent Cabernet Sauvignon, nine percent Merlot, four percent Petit Verdot and one percent Cabernet Franc.

Pair this with steak.

Winemaker Todd Graff used the fruit here with aplomb, and the gravelly loam in which the vines are growing comes through. You get what you would expect from the blend — vanilla, blackberry, creme de cassis — and a structure that calls for a few more years (at least) in the cellar. This one goes for $58 on the Frank Family site. Get a ribeye and grill it with salt, pepper, and butter, then savor a grand pairing.

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I’ll have reviews of the 2016 Frank Family Carneros Pinot Noir and the 2015 Napa Valley Zinfandel next.

Want more wine time? Check out PaperCity’s libation library:

A Zinfandel for Daily Drinking
A Wine Family’s Excellent Adventure
Four Brothers and Some Great Young Wines
Your Endless Crush Rosé
Enrique Varela Loves Malbec
This Geologist Knows His Italian
A Chardonnay For Your Mother (and You)
Don’t Dismiss the Peat
Distinctive Whisky Enters a New Era
A Whisky Legend Visits Houston
A Rare Cask, Indeed
Austin Whisky, Strange Name
Here’s Your Texas Rum Goddess
A ZaZa Wine Guy Loves Great Service
A Merlot That Your Snob Friend Will Love
French Couple Make a Sauvignon Blanc in California
A Perfect Afternoon Chardonnay
Terry Theise Talks Reisling
A New Wine Wonderland
Paris Wine Goddess Tells All
Rice Village Wine Bar Has a Cleveland Touch
A Texas White Blend for Your Table
A Pinot Noir Full of Flavor
This Pinot Gris From Oregon Pairs Well With Cheese
Willamette, Dammit!
A Value Rioja
Drink Pink!
Underbelly Veteran Goes for Grenache
A Man of Letters and Wine
Ms. Champagne Wants a Nebuchadnezzar
The Wine Artist Goes for Chardonnay
This American Loves Spain and Its Wines
Houston’s Wine Whisperer Has a Soft Touch
Blackberry Farm’s Somm Pours in Splendor
Mr. Pinot Noir: Donald Patz of Patz & Hall
A Cork Dork Wants to Spend More Time in Tuscany
Sommelier Turned Restaurateur Daringly Goes Greek
Texas Master Sommelier Debunks Wine Geeks
A Bottle From Gigondas Changed This Houston Man’s Life

Oil Man Falls in Love, and the Rest is Good-Taste History
Ryan Cooper of Camerata is a Riesling Man
Mixing It Up With Jeremy Parzen, an Ambassador of Italy
Sommelier at One of Houston’s Top Wine Bars Loves Underdogs

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