Martin Woods - Cabernet Franc 2022 (750ml)

Price: $55.99

Producer	Martin Woods
Country	United States
Region	Oregon
Varietal	Cabernet Franc
Vintage	2022
Sku	206228
Size	750ml

This Cabernet Franc is impossible to ignore as a mass of black raspberry meets white pepper, sagebrush, wilted violets and olives. This is texturally thrilling, velvety yet energetic, with chalky minerality that coats the palate as ripe red and black fruits swirl throughout. It finishes with amazing energy, juicy and long yet also classically structured, with a tinge of sour citrus that seals the deal.

The high-toned green herbal note coming through in the ruby red 2022 Cabernet Franc Walla Walla Valley is fantastic. You don’t see that in the 2023, and it may take the 2022 to another level, but at the very least, it’s different. This wine is more classic in its expression, with notes of green pepper, graphite, and black raspberries, as well as pretty floral aromas. Medium-bodied, It’s pretty and long on the palate, with supple, refined tannins, a weightless feel, and a long, clean, tapered finish. This is a very attractive and savory wine to drink over the next 15 years. It’s a versatile wine for foods with herbs, roasted peppers, etc

Martin Woods Description

Martin Woods is hidden in the oak-forested foothills of Oregon's Coast Range, within the cool-climate McMinnville AVA, Willamette Valley. Martin Woods is both the home and winery for winemaker/vigneron Evan Martin, who has been driven by a passion since 2009 for discovering the most compelling terroir in Oregon. Elegant Pinot noir and Chardonnay are the focus of the portfolio, but Riesling, Gruner, Gamay, Cabernet Franc and Syrah are more than proving extremely exciting for exploration. Evan’s small team farms according to sustainable, wholistic principles and the growers he partner's with are of the same mindset. The winemaking methods are delicate and natural, but of greatest importance is that a Martin Woods wine promotes the classic qualities of purity, balance, complexity and fine structure that can only result from great terroir combined with wholehearted dedication to art and craft. Above all, it is the hope that the wines evoke a consistent and inspiring sense-of-place, an authentic Oregon voice.

the Terroir tightly demarcated by virtue of a single soil series (Freewater Series) and a single land form (alluvial fan), the Rocks District of Milton-Freewater exists entirely on the Oregon side of the Walla Walla Valley. RockBar is situated in the middle of this highly distinctive terroir, where large cobblestones have collected over a hundred feet deep. Seven Hills Vineyard is a historic vineyard planted only steps outside of the Rocks District. The original vines were planted in 1982 by the McClellan family, who also planted (in 2003) another vineyard immediately adjacent to Seven Hills, called McClellan Estate. The vines at all three vineyards are self-rooted, ungrafted, with deep root systems. Careful management leads to balanced canopy growth and moderate yields, with Cabernet Franc clusters having good spacing, airflow and sun exposure. The inland continental climate provides alternating cold nights and long, warm Summer days with ample sunlight due to the high northern latitude (46 degrees N). This diurnal shift gives grapes with a wonderful balance of fruit, acidity, structure and highly expressive aromatics. the Growing Season A severe frost in mid-April caused bud damage to early budding young vines at lower elevations throughout the Willamette Valley. Most of our parcels were unaffected because of elevation, slope and air drainage. This frost event was followed by the coldest May in 80 years of record-keeping, which meant that the vines did not flower until mid-July, fully 3-4 weeks behind normal schedule. We did not make up much time over the Summer, which was seasonally dry and warm, As we got into the Fall, a very real sense of concern emerged that we would need an unusally dry, warm late-September and October if we were going to pick grapes at all. If moderate rain and cool temps returned as normal, the grapes simply would not reach proper maturity of flavor and sugar. Thankfully the conditions remained dry and warm until October 22. Ripening rapidly accelerated in mid-October and despite the fact that we had the most compressed harvest ever– we picked most of our fruit within one week, Oct. 16-21– the grapes reached a beautiful balance of fruit, acidity and ripe tannin strucutre. It was a roller-coaster of a growing season that surprisely (and thankfully) ended very well. We love the wines across the range and we believe that some of the 2022s are amongst the very best wines we've ever produced. notes on Winemaking picked Sept. 30, Oct. 13 and Oct. 21. Average of 20% whole clusters sandwiched in small open top 1.5 ton fermenters. 30 days total on skins. Once daily punchdowns started at Day 10. Peak temps, 80F-82F. Aged 12 months on lees (6 months without sulfur) in 228L barrels (average age ten to twelve years old), then 6 months in tank. Racked carefully and bottled May 6, 2024 without fining. Diam 10 corks,13.5% Alc., TA 5.4, pH 3.82, rs 0.0 g/L tasting notes classic, varietally pure aromas...fragrant garden herbs and peppers—ripe cherry kirsch fruit, silken and refreshing—balanced, refined structure, energetic texture with a long resonant finish