Mossik
White Rock Vineyard JouJou Cabernet Franc
Napa Valley, California, USA
Fresh, earthy, restrained dark fruit with savory spice.
Fresh, earthy, restrained dark fruit with savory spice.
Jan 27th, 2019
Renegade Wine dinner series at Rebelle NYC presented by sommelier Patrick Cappiello. Focus was on Cab Franc: 15 wines paired with 5 courses. Posting a few favorites.
Was excited to see this on the list. A very French style of Cab Franc - but a nice balance of savory and fruit. A touch sour but very smooth, round and refreshing. Was excellent with food (beet tartare).
Renegade Wine dinner series at Rebelle NYC presented by sommelier Patrick Cappiello. Focus was on Cab Franc: 15 wines paired with 5 courses. Posting a few favorites.
Was excited to see this on the list. A very French style of Cab Franc - but a nice balance of savory and fruit. A touch sour but very smooth, round and refreshing. Was excellent with food (beet tartare).
Jou Jou Vin 2011 Mossik Cabernet Franc from White Rock Vineyard, Napa Valley. It's always difficult when tasting friends wines to remain objective, and while I want to shout this wine from the hilltops (Radio-Coteau style!) I also want to be I also aspire to eliminate personal biases - positive or negative. Jou Jou you should know your wine received much conversation towards a mostly positive frame. The touch of brettanomyces was dually noted, there were comments on carbonic maceration, but I found balance throughout. I jested about the wine being topped with Baudry La Croix Boissée but the fact is, this wine has a strain of brett that works well with the fruit. The brett adds a spicy, wet earth, or mulchy wet tobacco leaf component that lends itself to wines of Chinon or Bordeaux. Is that replicable? Future vintages will tell. Will it grow in bottle? I plan to drink many more for my own recognizance. First day had some notes of carbonic maceration and brighter red fruits, along with that leafy Cab Franc character, fine dense tannins and moderate acidity with a slight sour note likely a proponent of brett. Day 2: I'll be damned. This is some damn good shit. It's worth that $250 dollar price tag! ;) But truly, the leaf/mulch quality is intact and integral, the darker berry fruits come out but there is still a pleasant sour cherry mid-palate that combines with the albeit softer yet still dense/fine mouth filling tannins. I realize part of the reason this wine was the talk of the blind tasting was that the brett, while in balance, set it apart from every other wine tasted. It was unique, it spoke of an older world style, it crept up in conversation because it lent something else to talk about. Kudos Jou Jou. The wine was made from 12 year old CF vines farmed organically (uncertified) grown in a layer of white volcanic ash. Grapes are fermented WC with ambient yeast in open top macro-bins, gently foot tread, native ML, pressed dry into 75% neutral FO and 25% Stainless Steel. 50 ppm SO2 added post ML, 10-15ppm added before bottling, racked once to bottle in June 2012. 25 cases produced. Good luck finding some!
Jou Jou Vin 2011 Mossik Cabernet Franc from White Rock Vineyard, Napa Valley. It's always difficult when tasting friends wines to remain objective, and while I want to shout this wine from the hilltops (Radio-Coteau style!) I also want to be I also aspire to eliminate personal biases - positive or negative. Jou Jou you should know your wine received much conversation towards a mostly positive frame. The touch of brettanomyces was dually noted, there were comments on carbonic maceration, but I found balance throughout. I jested about the wine being topped with Baudry La Croix Boissée but the fact is, this wine has a strain of brett that works well with the fruit. The brett adds a spicy, wet earth, or mulchy wet tobacco leaf component that lends itself to wines of Chinon or Bordeaux. Is that replicable? Future vintages will tell. Will it grow in bottle? I plan to drink many more for my own recognizance. First day had some notes of carbonic maceration and brighter red fruits, along with that leafy Cab Franc character, fine dense tannins and moderate acidity with a slight sour note likely a proponent of brett. Day 2: I'll be damned. This is some damn good shit. It's worth that $250 dollar price tag! ;) But truly, the leaf/mulch quality is intact and integral, the darker berry fruits come out but there is still a pleasant sour cherry mid-palate that combines with the albeit softer yet still dense/fine mouth filling tannins. I realize part of the reason this wine was the talk of the blind tasting was that the brett, while in balance, set it apart from every other wine tasted. It was unique, it spoke of an older world style, it crept up in conversation because it lent something else to talk about. Kudos Jou Jou. The wine was made from 12 year old CF vines farmed organically (uncertified) grown in a layer of white volcanic ash. Grapes are fermented WC with ambient yeast in open top macro-bins, gently foot tread, native ML, pressed dry into 75% neutral FO and 25% Stainless Steel. 50 ppm SO2 added post ML, 10-15ppm added before bottling, racked once to bottle in June 2012. 25 cases produced. Good luck finding some!
1 person found it helpfulMay 22nd, 2013
I am heavily biased when it comes to friends' wines, and that is as it should be. Life is short, we drink the wines of people we like. That said, I finally got to try this wine, after years of discussing it...holy crap...I forgot that it was a friend's wine, it hit me hard, and in a different kind of personal way that had nothing to do with friends or even wine drinking pleasure...what it did was it instantly proved that Cab Franc can express that certain mysterious thing right here in sunny California, that we are capable of a wine like that, that affirmation was something I won't forget any time soon.
I am heavily biased when it comes to friends' wines, and that is as it should be. Life is short, we drink the wines of people we like. That said, I finally got to try this wine, after years of discussing it...holy crap...I forgot that it was a friend's wine, it hit me hard, and in a different kind of personal way that had nothing to do with friends or even wine drinking pleasure...what it did was it instantly proved that Cab Franc can express that certain mysterious thing right here in sunny California, that we are capable of a wine like that, that affirmation was something I won't forget any time soon.
May 11th, 2017
Perhaps the most Loire-like Cab Franc I've had from California. Helluva wine. Nutty plummy herbal juiciness.
Perhaps the most Loire-like Cab Franc I've had from California. Helluva wine. Nutty plummy herbal juiciness.
Apr 11th, 2017
Press check & home stretch till my babies venture out in the world! 12s in such a vibrant place right now - floral, juicy and all that white rock structure.
Press check & home stretch till my babies venture out in the world! 12s in such a vibrant place right now - floral, juicy and all that white rock structure.
Feb 7th, 2017
