Drink This: Lenz Winery 2020 Cabernet Franc
An age-worthy cabernet franc from an iconic North Fork producer
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Lenz Winery is one of Long Island’s benchmark producers, making some of the region’s best Bordeaux variety-based wines. But, for many years, cabernet franc wasn’t on the menu. You see, founding winemaker Eric Fry didn’t like making it. So it would find its way — in small percentages — into the estate’s other varietal wines but wasn’t bottled by itself.
Current winemaker Thomas Spotteck joined as Fry’s assistant in 2016 and took over as Fry started to work part-time and then retired. Spotteck made a small run of varietal cabernet franc in 2017 (so small that I didn’t even get to taste it). The fruit in 2018 wasn’t up to his standards, so it wasn’t until 2019 that Spotteck truly added varietal cabernet franc to the lineup in a real way.
Perhaps more than many East Coast wineries, age-worthiness has always been important within the winery’s red wine portfolio. Some of the best 10-plus-year-old reds I’ve ever tasted from Long Island have been Lenz. It’s not even four years old yet, but Lenz Winery 2020 Cabernet Franc ($55*) seems well on its way to maturing beautifully.
It’s already improved since I tasted it last March.
Ripe and concentrated, the nose is driven by cherry and blackberry fruit with layers of minty and savory herbs, earth, brown sugar, and a little licorice.
The oak I remember from last year has integrated nicely on the fuller-bodied palate, which is rich and loaded with dark, ripe dark fruits. The tannins are softening at the edges, framing a mix of fruit, spice, earth, and herbs. Brown sugar and spice step forward a bit on the end of the long, fruity-savory finish.
Lenz Winery 2020 Cabernet Franc
Region: North Fork of Long Island AVA (New York)
ABV: 13.5%
TA: 6 g/L
pH: 3.7
Production: 146 cases
Winemaking: Aged 24 months in French oak, 25% of it new
Rating: 93 pts
Price: $55* (Available Here)
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*sample submitted by winery