This is the world’s ripest Cabernet Franc

We are aware that Cabernet Sauvignon is rubbish apart from those made by a select handful of people (Diana Seysses (at Snowden in California), Tim Adams and Mr Moss Wood), so how about Cabernet Franc? I’ve had some good CabFranc wines before, but never one claiming to be 15% as this does. It certainly is ripe.

Chinon ‘Clos de l’Echo’ 2005, Couly-Dutheil

Hell’s bells, it is quite dark. The nose is amazingly ripe, with lots of sweet fruit and alcohol richness. There is some green pepper (‘bell peppers’ to our US friends) on the nose, with mere hints of leafiness. It is a boozy tart of a nose. The palate is ripe and polished, with a hint of spikiness to the tannins and slight acidity. It is reasonably charming, but not that long and sadly it seems to lack complexity. It doesn’t seem overblown, but just a rather simple. Nice to finally get to try this wine, especially in such a flattering vintage, but I don’t feel the need to buy it again.

If I may add a postscript we had a bottle of Tim Adams The Fergus after this; this is also a large scale wine. It made the Chinon look monolithic, boring and dull. So interesting things are more interesting than boring things even when they contain so much alcohol you could light them.