This wine is Raphael Vineyards 2006 Cabernet Franc.  This, however, was not one of the wine’s I tasted with Richard Olsen-Harbich, and to be honest, I can see why.  I picked up this bottle at my local wine shop when i knew I was going to do a comparison of Cabernet Franc.  It was a good value at $15.95, but I was disappointed in this wine.

Let me preface by saying again that the 2006 growing season was a tough one on Long Island.  So we need to take this into consideration, that this has more to do with the season than anything else.

On the nose I was getting lots of leather, some clove, some plum and cranberries.  It took a while but I started to get some herbs, a whole mix of them, but they were not fresh.

The initial taste was very hot on the tongue.  It was spicy and had some black pepper elements that I did not care for.  On the herbal side, I was picking up some mint and a little bay leaf.  I was not getting any fruit.

This had a long peppery finish with some subtle dried herbal tones.

I had a hard time getting into this wine, was not a fan of it.  I even let it sit in my glass for a while to see if it would change, same result.  I also tried it the next day, again, same results.  I totally see why Rich did not offer this wine to me when I was out for a visit.