Drinking the 2004 Titus Cabernet Franc
Last night, after a long day of driving and some begging on my part, I convinced my wife and brother-in-law to come with me to the Metro Wine Bar & Bistro in Oklahoma City. When I looked up the Web site for the Metro, I noticed their wine list had a bottle of Titus Cabernet Franc on it. Very interesting.
A side note: I really like Cabernet Franc and I wish more wineries would grow Cabernet Franc grapes and produce 100% Cab Franc varietal wines. Only a handful of American wineries seem to attempt 100% Cab Franc wines; even Titus blends their Cabernet Franc with other grapes to produce their “Cabernet Franc” release. Perhaps this is why I like the Paracombe Cabernet Franc wines so much: They aren’t compromised by other varietals blended into the mix. Anyway, the inky purple look and silken feel of a good Cabernet Franc is terrific…and I think the York Creek that I had the other day was one of the best in recent memory.
So, as I said, I cajoled everyone into coming with me to the Metro. It was a good choice as their food is wonderful. We had:
- French onion soup with actual toast covered with actual melted/roasted cheese on top
- Cedar plank salmon with roast acorn squash, mashed potatoes, and asparagus
- Poached pear and Stilton salad
- Lemon tart with raspberry sauce and blueberries
- Double chocolate/espresso brownie with creme anglaise
The food was great. But how was the wine?
I ordered the 2003 Titus Cabernet Franc from the wine list. They brought out a 2004, which I thought would be fine although I knew it wouldn’t be quite as poised as the 2003, which in turn probably isn’t completely ready to be consumed yet either. But hey, this was my only good chance to try some Titus.
So I asked the waitress to decant the wine, which she did. It’s an interesting wine, a blend of Cabernet Franc (75%), Merlot (13%), Cabernet Sauvignon (7%), and Malbec (5%). There are 561 cases of the 2004, and it’s fairly strong at 14.5% alcohol content. More information can be found here.
How was the wine? Good question:
- Aroma: Evolved over the course of 60 minutes or so before finally settling into something approaching a “complete” bouquet. Violets, then bell peppers, then cedar and smoke, and finally black fruit. A good nose, but a little thin in the end.
- Flavor: The flavor also changed over time; very tannic at first, but once it opened up the wine had more chocolate, violet, sour blackberry, and boysenberry/marionberry essences.
- General impression: Needs more time in the bottle; this one was opened too early but it was still fun. The tannins and acid will need to level out a bit more first before this wine becomes really nice.
I guess the verdict is twofold: 1) I like this wine but it needs to be aged for a while, and 2) the York Creek on the Metro wine list is the better wine (but a straight comparison is unfair as the York Creek is 100% Cabernet Franc and a bit older).
Overall, I am glad I got to try a bottle of Titus, but now I want to try one that is a bit older. The 2001, 2002, and 2003 releases look available online but I need to save my money for bigger and better things….