For years, as a young wine enthusiast, I always associated the start of Long Island Wine Country with Palmer Vineyards.  Now you may consider Baiting Hollow Vineyards as the starting point.

I remember visiting Palmer Vineyards almost every time I went out to the North Fork.  My wife and I enjoyed their Gewürztraminer and sauvignon blanc.  And Palmer was the first tasting room that I had Cabernet Franc.

So when I saw this bottle of Palmer Vineyards 2007 Cabernet Franc Proprietors Reserve ($27) in a wine shop, I had to pick it up.  If not for the memories, then for the fact that it is from the 2007 Vintage.

On the nose I was getting loads of ripe red fruit.  Raspberry and strawberry come to mind first followed by a salinity note.  It was a bit toasty with a fair amount of oaky woody cedar.

The taste was offering some ripe red fruit and some cherry tart and dried herbs.  Some mint and eucalyptus.  It had a spicy black peppery note to it, which I love.  There was a little tobacco and leather there too.  I was picking up some oaky notes to the wine which seemed to overwhelm the other flavors of the wine, in my opinion.

It had great acidity with mild tannins.  The tannins did soften as the wine sat in my glass.  And the acidity level was just right for your evening dinner.

I had a hard time getting past the wood and oak notes of the wine.  I did however enjoy the ripeness of this Cabernet Franc for the spicy notes and the ripe fruit.