When you think of Pindar, you may think of some sweet wines, a White Zinfandel type.  Or you may think of their Winter White, since it their number one selling wine.  And you know what, that’s fine.  As long as folks are drinking Long Island wine.

Those wines are not my speed, but in my early days of wine drinking…a long time ago, I had my share of White Zinfandel.  But as all things go, we progress and expand our palate.  We try new things and eventually we find a wine we enjoy and always look to buy or have on hand. Which is exactly what happened to me and where my palate is today.

A perfect example of where my palate is this 2007 Cabernet Franc from Pindar Vineyards.  Let me first tell you that this has not been released yet, and I am not sure when it will be, nor am I sure of the price of this.  But when it is released be sure to taste it and you may want to add this to your cellar collection.

When I visited with Pindar and Les, they both knew from reading by blog that I was a huge fan of Cabernet Franc.  If you recall we tasted through some of the 2008 in barrel and some 2006 in bottle.  Then the wanted me to taste their 2007.

A little reminder, 2007 was an unusually warm and dry year for this cool weather region of Long Island.  The fruit ripened much earlier and the amount of quality grapes that vineyards saw and achieved was unheard of.  This 2007 vintage may be the best yet recorded for wineries and vineyards of Long Island.

You can taste all of the goodness this 2007 Cabernet Franc has to offer.  There are big juicy berries right up front on the nose.  I was getting loads of blackberries and raspberries.  There were elements of chocolate and fresh roasted coffee beans.  There was the wonderful earthy note that filled the glass and at the end, there was the wonderful herbal, minty note.  This was a wine that once you put your nose in the glass, it was very difficult to take it out.

The taste was even better.  The same fruit notes that were there on the nose carried over onto my palate.  There was also this juicy cherry flavor that was coming through.  There were some elements of dried herbs and spice.  There was some minerality there that reminded me of the smell of wet slate.  There was a slight toasty note that finished off with a hint of vanilla.

I really loved this wine.  IT had alot happening and all of it came together.  The tannins were mild and the acidity level was just right.  This Cabernet Franc was well balanced and delicious.

I drank this wine by itself; I did not pair food with it.  I had it in the tasting room at Pindar and again later that day.  This wine was only getting better as the day went on and even into the next day.

If you pick up this wine, and I highly recommend that you do, keep it in your cellar for a while.  But if you do give in to temptation, then make sure that you open this for a few hours before you quickly consume this wine with friends.