Team C&J
We drink a fair number of Bordeaux varieties, and we have to say, hands down, that this Cab Franc from Gandona Estate is the best Cab Franc we’ve ever had. But, what made this bottle so special?
The Gandona Winery sits on one of Napa Valley’s most exclusive grape-growing regions: Pritchard Hill. The view from Pritchard Hill vineyards is stunning. From high atop a plateau in the Vaca Mountains, on the east side of Napa Valley, you can look out across layers of hills and down onto Napa’s Lake Hennessey.
Part of what drew Manuel Pires, the proprietor of Gandona Estate, to Pritchard Hill was its dramatically hilly terrain, which was visually similar to the Portuguese hills his family grew up in. This land high in the hills of Napa Valley would allow him to honor his family’s farming roots, which go back generations in the Douro region of Portugal.
In addition to cabernet and cab franc, the property’s 17 acres of vineyards also include a small block of Touriga Nacional, a grape indigenous to Portugal. From the Touriga, Gandona produces Fraga do Arco, a port-style wine that is unique to Napa Valley.
All of the Gandona Estate wines are bottle-aged in the winery’s caves. What’s interesting about Gandona’s caves is that the large boulders that were removed from the hillside to construct the caves were then reused on the exterior of the winery. Manuel also made the decision to use oak harvested from the family’s Connecticut home to create the winery’s interior doors.
The architecture on the property represents a beautiful blending of the family’s history, and its future in Napa Valley.
Gandona winemaker Philippe Melka, who Robert Parker called one of the top wine consultants in the world, is a true asset to the Gandona wine family. Melka’s resume is impressive. Not only is he the lead winemaker for Gandona wines, but he has his own label, Melka Estates, which he runs with his wife, Cherie.
Together, Philippe and Cherie have consulted or worked with Ridge, Silver Oak, Haut Brion, Chittering Estate, Badio O Coltibuono, the Moueix domains, and Dominus.
The soil in Pritchard Hill is iron-rich and incredibly rocky. It’s so dense with rocks and boulders that, according to a piece in Wine Enthusiast, “some wineries, like Colgin and Brand, had to dynamite their land and haul the rubble away before planting, an expensive process that can require importing soils to make up the difference.”
While this process can initially impede vineyard cultivation, the efforts of these producers have paid off. Pritchard Hill wines are some of the most sought-after wines in the Napa Valley. In addition to the rocky soil, which provides excellent drainage to the vines, many of the vineyards sit above the fog line at elevations between 1000 and 2000 feet above sea level, which ensures the grapes don’t ripen too quickly.
That Pritchard Hill wines remain so under the radar, even to knowledgable wine lovers, only adds to the area’s mystique.
The nose on this cab franc is bewitching: we picked up dark fruits like black currant and cherries, earthy notes of graphite and wet gravel, but also “green” herbaceous qualities like bell pepper and oregano, and the essence of white pepper. Subtle notes of dark chocolate and old leather also made an appearance.
While the aromas were abundant, they weren’t overpowering or too perfumed; instead, they painted an intriguing picture of what the flavor profile held.
I can’t say enough about what a stunner this Gandona Winery Meia Cab Franc is. That brambliness that’s often associated with cab francs appears in the form of raspberry, and blackberry. The tartness of black currants plays well with this wine’s grippy tannins, and, once again that bright green quality of bell pepper, or rather, jalapeño might be a more precise descriptor, livens the palate.
As the wine opens up, you’ll notice white pepper, cocoa powder, and hints of leather on the finish. The medium- acidity, balanced dryness, and medium body all fit together like perfect pieces in a puzzle.
Typical for hillside wines whose grapes get extra daytime sun, this wine is higher in alcohol than we usually prefer to drink. The Gandona Winery Meia Cab Franc comes in at 15.3%, but given everything else going on with this wine, you’d never know it.
The wine itself is so well crafted and balanced beyond belief, that you’d never know you wouldn’t give the 15%+ alcohol a second thought.
USA
Pritchard Hill
Cabernet Franc
15.3
Philippe Melka
62–68°F / 16–20°C
Large Bordeaux
1 Hour
Now to 2038
Gandona Winery
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