Boysenberry • Slate • Gushing
Best enjoyed at 55°- 60°f
Suggested drink window: now - 2029 - 2037
95 Points - Cristaldi & Co.
91 Points - James Suckling
The 2023 Cabernet Franc Reserve blend is comprised of 63% Estate fruit and 37% fruit from our grower partners. Unlike a single vineyard bottling, this blend was decided through careful selection of different vineyard lots and barrels to highlight the beauty of the variety and vintage. The Estate vineyards are Damiani, Davis, and Valois Vineyards, and the grower selections are from Serenity Vineyards on the northwest side of Seneca Lake and Sawmill Creek Vineyards, our neighbor vineyard in Hector. All of these sites are some of our favorites in the cellar year to year, and in 2023 that was no exception.
Winemaking
• 100% Cabernet Franc
• 63% Estate grown
• Vineyard locations: 75% East side of Seneca Lake, 25% west side of Seneca lake
• Soil: Valois and Howard gravelly loam & Lordstown channery silt loam
• Harvested from October 18th - 24th
• Unfined & unfiltered
• Vegan
• Brix: 20.5-22.5° │ pH: 3.53 │ TA: 7.5 g/L │ MA 0.31 g/L │ RS 0.05 │ ABV: 12.5
• Bottling Date: 2/19/2025
• Cases Produced: 200
Reviews
Cristaldi Review
Damiani’s 2023 Cabernet Franc Reserve takes
everything great about their standard Cabernet Franc
and elevates it—more polish, more juiciness, and a
silkier expression across the palate. Sourced from a
mix of three estate sites and two grower vineyards
on both the east and west sides of Seneca Lake, the
fruit was fermented in 1-ton bins with 20% saignée
and 15% whole cluster inclusion, all with native yeast.
Aged 16 months in neutral French oak, the wine is
bottled unfined and unfiltered. Bright red berry fruit
and fine brown baking spices lead the aromatic
charge, while cherry-skin tannins glide across the
palate with a juicy, plump texture. The finish lingers
with blood orange zest, rose oil, coriander seed, and
finely etched cedar spice.
2023 Vintage Notes
As the harvest season approached, and all things pointed to 2023 being a lovely year. In the vineyards, our team worked tirelessly to ensure the cellar got to play with the best grapes possible come harvest time. Summer of 2023 was drastically different from the several previous seasons with a decent amount of rainfall, hot and humid days, but unusually cool nighttime temperatures. This means we were able to maintain a strict disease management protocol with timely shoot thinning and positioning, aggressive leaf thinning, and our hybrid organic/conventional spray program.
Many have asked about the frost event in late May and how we fared. In the days following the event, we were very nervous as we saw many small shoots go from green to black. After a few weeks, the vines started to push their secondary shoots and subsequent clusters, and we started to see life back in the hard-hit blocks. We feel very fortunate as we saw a fairly normal season as far as yields went, but we know some of our neighbors did not fare as well. These moments help reinforce the strength of the agricultural community and how we as consumers and neighbors can all help one another during challenging times by buying local, supporting small businesses, and always keeping a positive attitude!
