Cowan Vineyards 2003 Cabernet Franc Barrel Select - Brief review and background
As I’ve described in this blog, I went on an Eastern Washington winery tour in August 2005. One of the tasting rooms we visited was the one for Cowan Vineyards, which at the time was still in a strip mall next door to Kestrel’s gorgeous winery. The best wine at Cowan was their Cabernet Franc Barrel Select, a wine that the label describes as “Estate Bottled Cabernet Franc Yakima Valley Barrel Select.” That’s a mouthful, much like the wine itself…lots of red fruit and a nice essence of the barrel wood itself. It’s a nice wine.
Unfortunately (and this is why I opened my bottle now), I think the bottle got a bit cooked while sitting in a car for a couple of hours in the triple-digit heat of Eastern WA in August. Yuck. The finish is a bit acidic and overall the wine tastes just a bit off, but it’s not the fault of Cowan at all. It’s my own damn fault.
When I sampled the wine at the tasting room, I was impressed…and I hadn’t even discovered the formidable Paracombe Cab Franc yet so I didn’t realize how much I liked that particular varietal. The guy who was pouring the wines (he was the CPA for the winery) claimed they discovered that the wine improved after being open for a couple of days. I was a little surprised by that statement, but I guess it’s time to give it a try. I decanted half the wine and left the other half to stand in the bottle.
For $18 per bottle, I think this wine is a decent deal, especially if you are looking for a good wine to pair with food…and if you want to shock everyone and show them a wine they’ve probably never seen or heard of before, even in Washington State. Interestingly, the wine bottle is the first one without a punt that I’ve seen in quite a while. It’s a little strange; somehow, the lack of a punt makes the wine seem…cheaper. It’s a silly observation, though, and you’ll quickly forget it once you drink some of this Cab Franc.
POSTSCRIPT: I’ll be darned, that CPA was right! After opening the wine yesterday evening, I waited about 24 hours and then had a glass with some marlin, green beans, and ciabatta bread. It was terrific! Well worth the $18, and it clearly hadn’t suffered too much from the summer heat. Wow…it tasted delicious with food. So, I guess leaving this wine out for a day or two is a good idea.