Journal | December 19, 2023
2010 was the last time Linden produced a varietal Cabernet Franc.
Cabernet Franc
What winemaker hasn’t declared that “wine is made in the vineyard.” But that is usually as far as the discussion goes. Vineyard influences are complicated and nuanced. As a result of years of trial and error in the vineyard, we have a newfound appreciation of Cabernet Franc. So I thought that our discovery process would serve as a good tutorial as to how vineyard decisions influence wine quality.
Cabernet Franc is an easy grape to grow. It is especially well adapted to Virginia. It is disease resistant, winter hardy, and it yields consistently and abundantly. But historically wine quality has been inconsistent. We are now beginning to understand what it takes to produce balanced and nuanced Cabernet Franc. It has very little to do with winemaking and everything to do with the vineyard. We have found three major factors that contribute to Cabernet Franc wine quality: soil, yield, and vine age.
Cabernet loves rocky soils.
Today we’ll address soil. Subsequent posts will focus on yield and vine age.
Cabernet Franc and its sister grape Cabernet Sauvignon make their best wines when soil water accessibility is restricted. In a climate with consistent rains during the growing season, a soil’s water holding capacity will regulate this. Rocky, thin, well-drained soils on steep slopes can’t retain much water after a rain. But deep, clay soils on flat ground hold a lot of water. Grapevines will readily take up this abundance of available water. They then grow with unrestricted exuberance. New shoots and new leaves continue to develop well into the fall. And that is the problem. By late July/early August when the grapes start to ripen, the vine should be putting its energy into ripening the grapes, not producing unneeded vegetative growth.
In 1985, Linden’s first planting of Cabernet Franc was established on a fairly deep clay/silt loam. Initially we were more than pleased to see such amazingly verdant growth. We were also puzzled that it took so long for the grapes to turn color and to ripen. The wines were rather herbaceous, but we just thought that this was the way Cabernet Franc was supposed to be. Twenty years later, after several exploratory trips to Bordeaux, we realized that it was planted on the wrong soil.
Hydric stress was the buzzword in Bordeaux. Soils that restricted water availability consistently produced wines of concentration and ripeness. In fact one could argue that the entire classification system, and therefore wine pricing, was based solely on soil water-holding capacity. Fortunately Hardscrabble, Linden’s estate vineyard, has a variety of soils and slopes. One small planting of Cabernet Franc was established in 2009 on more appropriate soils. This has shown us what the potential is for Cabernet Franc when properly planted on the right site. Since then we have removed underperforming vineyards and replanted on more appropriate soils.
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Linden Vineyards / Learn More / Latest at Linden | Hardscrabble Journal: December 19, 2023