2013 Rousten Cabernet Franc

Deep ruby red color. Mountain bramble, crushed rock, roasted coffee, leather, red licorice, scented juniper-berry. Intense bramble fruit entry, very firm acid, medium-full body, elegant tannins, seductive; highly enjoyable with a long finish. EB (10/16)

Drought persisted for a second year; after budbreak, these shallow-rooted five-yearold vines required irrigation to survive. Harvested mid-September and destemmed, the whole berries were sorted, and pumped to two small tanks for fermentation; we pressed at full extraction on day nine. Malolactics, which had begun in tank, then finished in barrels by year’s end. We selected this complex wine for its fine varietal character. It shows dark berry fruit, firm acidity, and integrated tannins. An excellent vintage, it will continue to develop over the next ten to twelve years. EB (5/15)

Charles Rousten purchased seventy-five acres on Monte Bello in 1903. He planted vines and built a winery, BW (Bonded Winery) 180. During Prohibition, he converted most of the vines to prune orchards, but kept about eight acres of vineyard. After repeal, he produced a small quantity of wine until his death in 1941, when his son, Charlie, inherited the property. Charlie operated the winery until sometime in the 1950s, when—fed up with the increasing paperwork demanded by the federal authorities—he famously refused to pay the federal excise taxes on his wine. He dumped all the wine on the ground in front of a federal agent, and threw him off the property. He tore out the remaining vines, closed the winery, and focused on the orchards, cattle, and hay. When Charlie died in 1990, he left his land to Lois Ortmann who developed a successful boarding operation for horses. In 2007 Lois signed a long term lease with Ridge on thirty-seven acres and vines were re-planted starting in 2008. This cabernet franc is our second release from the ranch.

Rainfall: 20.5 inches (below average)
Bloom: Mid-June
Weather: Moderate summer and fall

Harvest Dates: 17 September
Grapes: Average brix 24.8˚
Fermentation: 100% de-stemmed & whole berry fermentation on native yeasts. Pressed at nine days. Natural malolactic (initiated in tank, sent to barrel on October 1st finished December 27th).
Selection: 100% Rousten Vineyard, Cabernet Franc, Cheval block.
Barrels: 100% air-dried american oak barrels; (100% new).
Aging: Twenty months in barrel

Hand harvested, estate-grown grapes; destemmed and whole-berry fermented on the native yeasts, followed by full malolactic on the naturally occurring bacteria; oak from barrel aging; minimum effective sulfur (30 ppm at crush, 117 ppm over the course of aging); pad filtered at bottling. In keeping with our philosophy of minimal intervention, this is the sum of our actions.

Vinous Media (July 2016): 90 Points. “The 2013 Cabernet Franc Rousten offers good richness and power, but less in the way of varietal character. The Rousten is more a wine from Ridge than a true expression of Cabernet Franc. On its own, the 2013 is attractive, if less distinguished than the other wines in the range. ” -Antonio Galloni