Life is Like a Mixed Case of Loire Cabernet Franc (or, A Wild Night at Solano Cellars)

If you’re looking for a wild night, grab a few bottles of Loire Cabernet Franc, call a couple of friends, and swing by your local wine shop. I kid you not. My wife and I did this very thing yesterday evening, and it proved to be one crazy ride.

For the normal among us – those who prefer to spend their evenings at the theater, clubs, house parties, or sporting events – a Cabernet Franc tasting may not sound terribly entertaining. But if, like me, you’re a wine geek – that is, if your idea of a good time is opening a bunch of interesting, obscure wines, tasting them with friends, and debating their relative merits late into the night – then listen up. I’m about to give you a recipe for the best night of your life.

Ok, so I oversold it a bit. It wasn’t the best night of my life. But it was a darn good night, a memorable night, full of intriguing textures, provocative aromas, and distinctive flavor profiles. As with all such experiences, much of the enjoyment must be chalked up to the company (some dear friends and several very cool wine merchants) and the venue (Solano Cellars in Albany, CA). But in this case, what made the tasting so wild were the wines being tasted.

More than any other wine I can think of, Cabernet Franc from France’s Loire Valley offers great potential for a ridiculously entertaining tasting. Loire Cab Franc’s lack of predictability – its proclivity to surprise you, to offer up wintergreen flavors in one bottle and burnt ends flavors in another, its refusal to be pinned down or summed up, its ability to make you laugh and cry in sequential sips – makes it an oenological adventure with few equals.