Leah Jørgensen Archives | Crushed Grape Chronicles

Cab Franc – Sailing the Loire with a Pirate Princess #WinePW

Dec 11, 2020

Cabernet Franc

Cab Franc is a grape that for many years was overlooked as a blending grape, but it’s so much more than that. Yes, you find it in Bordeaux blending into the red blends there, but in the Loire? Well, that’s where it shines.

Cab Franc is suited to cool climates, which is why it thrives in the Loire. When made into wine it holds its acid well allowing it great aging capabilities.

Cabernet Franc is known by the name “Breton” in the Loire Valley and here is the most widely planted grape with over 44,000 acres.

Loire Valley Wines Map (courtesy Loire Valley Wines)

We are traveling the world with Cabernet Franc this month with the #WinePW group, led by Wendy Klik of A Day in the Life on the Farm. Over a dozen of us will be writing pieces, tasting, and pairing Cab Franc from all sorts of places. There is a list of all of my colleagues’ pieces below.

If you are reading this early enough, join us on Saturday, December 12^th at 8 am PST or a more reasonable 11 am if you are on the East coast, as we chat about all things Cab Franc! To join the conversation just follow and use the hashtag #WinePW on Twitter that morning!

The Cab Francs

We tasted 2 Cabernet Francs. One is from the Loire Valley and one from Leah Jørgensen our favorite Pirate Princess in Oregon.

Saumur Champigny

The Saumur Champigny AOC is a small appellation that is for red wine only. These red wines must be Cabernet Franc driven at a minimum of 85% with the remaining 15% from Cabernet Sauvignon or Pineau d’Aunis.

While we mentioned before that Cab Franc thrives in cool climates, this nook nestled between the Loire River and the Thouet tributary has a hot microclimate in the summer. “it is possible that the name Champigny may derive from the Latin ‘campus igni’ – field of fire.” Vins Val de Loire

Map of AOP Saumur Champigny in the Loire Valley - courtesy Vins Val du Loire

Map of AOP Saumur Champigny in the Loire Valley – courtesy Vins du Val du Loire

Photo of Saumur Champigny – courtesty Vins du Val du Loire

Val de Loire Réserve des Vignerons 2017 Saumur Champigny

This wine is made by a co-operative called the Cave de Saumur. Cave de Saumur was founded by 40 growers in 1956.

Now with 160 growers around the town of Saumur that focus on sustainable viticulture with each grower signing an action plan to conserve water, and biodiversity.

They own 10 km of cellars and a modern winery built in 2000.

100% Cab Franc, 12.5% abv $19.99 SRP

Val de Loire 2017 Reserves des Vignerons Saumur Champigny

Leah Jørgensen Cellars

Leah Jørgensen is a self-proclaimed “Pirate Princess”. You can read it on her business card. She charts new waters in winemaking. After settling in the Willamette Valley, did she make Pinot Noir? No, she decided to champion the grapes of the Loire.

Leah comes to wine with a great love for the wines of the Loire having worked with Joe Dressner who had an amazing portfolio of Loire Valley wines.

She has championed Cab Franc and bottled a Blanc de Cab Franc that was the first still white Cabernet Franc in the world and a wine which you should most definitely seek out. She believes that some of the best blocks of Cabernet Franc in the country are in Southern Oregon.

When I met her a few years ago, we spoke about how the Loire influenced her and the differences and similarities between the Loire and Southern Oregon soils.

Leah Jørgensen – Pirate Princess and Winemaker

Leah Jorgensen Pirate Princess

“…we are definitely inspired by the Loire Valley, but we are very fully aware that Southern Oregon is not the Loire Valley… We have points of reference, reasons why we can grow some of the same varietals. With Southern Oregon, looking at some of the vineyard sites that we have like Crater View Ranch which we work with, with our Malbec, our Sauvignon Blanc, and some of our Cab Franc, there’s ancient marine shellfish, shell imprints, shell fossils, and blueschist, ocean bottom rock and this is all present from a subduction that happened 250 million years ago…The stuff that we are seeing in those vineyards in the Rogue and Applegate, but especially in these particular vineyards in the Rogue, they even predate the Old World. When we think of the Loire Valley, my inspiration, Paris used to be under a tidal basin, so all of the waters that were in that tidal basin around Paris are now the vineyards for the Loire valley. So you find shellfish and ancient marine fossils in some of the vineyards of the Loire Valley. That episode, when the water was all in those vineyards in that area, that was about 100 million years ago, So our geological episode happened 150 million years before that, so Old World, right? I’m really proud of that, I love talking about these soil series and the ancient marine shellfish because I think it’s a new dawn for Oregon wine to talk about other regions that have really fascinating geological stories. So that’s really the inspiration for me, capturing the sense of place and the soils and then also the grapes that seem to make sense, Cab Franc Malbec, Sauvignon Blanc.”

Leah Jørgensen Cellars 2016 Cabernet Franc – Southern Oregon

Leah notes that this wine was made with a whimsical nod to the Loire Valley.

100% Cabernet Franc, 14% abs $29.99 SRP

While this wine is no longer available, you can find her 2018 vintage on her site.

Her whimsical labels will have you wanting a whole collection.

Leah Jørgensen 2016 Cabernet Franc from Southern Oregon

Cabernet Francs Reserve des Vignerons Saumur Champigny and Leah Jørgensen from Southern Oregon

So should we compare?

I tasted the Saumur Champigny first. It was slightly lighter in color than the Leah Jørgensen wine and had notes of tobacco, black cherry, red plum, eucalyptus, and raspberry. Dry and medium in body, tannins, and flavor this had high acid and flavors of tart berries and red fruit.

The Leah Jørgensen Cabernet Franc is a 2016, so a year older. It was deeper in color with a nose of black currant, red cherry, grilled meats, eucalyptus, and smoke. Dry with again, medium body and tannins and high acidity In my mouth I got red fruit, mint, and tobacco. This was more lush and full than the Saumur Champigny, and dare I say, a little louder?

But wait! There’s more!

I will admit that my tasting was a tad underwhelming. I had not decanted and Cab Franc can take some time to open up. So the following evening, I poured the wines again.

On the Saumur Champigny the nose, while still restrained opened to pencil shavings then a burst of spicy pepper, like a hot pepper cut open. That faded and then it opened to garrigue and a smokiness, like burning a pile of brush.

The Leah Jørgensen hit me first on this day with bramble fruit and spice followed by a scent, like hay drying in the sun after a rain. There were savory spices, dried herbs, and dried rose petals. On the palate, there was more fruit, like blackberry juice.

Oh, what a difference a day makes.

Pairing with Cab Franc – a cheese plate counts for dinner right?

We tasted these wines with an epic cheese platter. I know, it’s Wine Pairing Weekend and that might seem a little lame, but my pantry was thin on good pairing ideas and quite honestly, I was tired. Luckily, my fridge and pantry were up to the task on an epic cheese plate.

Cab Franc is known for pairing with Brie and camembert, goat cheese, and blue cheese. So some of those were included in our cheese platter dinner.

Bleu cheese stuffed green olives, white cheddar, summer sausage, brie, prosciutto, bleu cheese, pepper onion jelly, pistachios, comte, fresh strawberry, goat cheese, blackberry, mustard, cranberry sauce (yes, I still have some left and it’s great on a cheese board!), walnuts, and almonds.

Only a couple of things were “meh”. The pistachios and the prosciutto just didn’t do anything. Not bad, mind you, just well, “meh”. Everything else went fine. There were a couple of Yeps and Yep Yeps. The Bleu cheese, the strawberry, and the mustard got Yeps. I noted that the freshness of the strawberry brightened the wine. The goat cheese got a Yum and then a little mix of the brie with the pepper jelly got a Yep Yep when paired with Leah’s Cabernet Franc.

Cheese plate pairing for Cab Franc

Cheese plate to pair with Cabernet Franc

Cheese plate to pair with Cab Franc

Dinner pairing ideas (if you want to cook)

The Saumur Champigny I would pair with pork or chicken dishes, or fish. More specifically, I think this would go great with that rainbow trout we had just a while back. It would also be good for Thanksgiving, pairing well with the cranberry and dark meat turkey and tomato-based dishes, I’m wondering about a cioppino?

I asked Leah (via IG) what she would pair with her Southern Oregon Cab Franc

“pizza, pasta with any red sauce (esp Arrabbiata), roast chicken with roast root vegetables, Nordic food (smørrebrod).”

Okay… smørrebrod. I had to refresh my memory on what this was, so I thought I would do the same for you. Smorrebrod is a traditional open-faced Scandinavian sandwich. Buttered bread in rye or a dark dense brown bread with cold cuts, meat or fish, cheese or spread and then garnishes, like capers, sprouts, pickled onions, radishes, hard-boiled egg…the list of possibilities is endless.

Great…now I’m really hungry. I suppose though what this really means, is that this wine can pair widely!

pizza

Roasted chicken on a bed of cous cous with rosemary, cranberries and arugula

Amatriciana sauce on rotini pasta (bacon & tomato sauce)

panoramic shot of fresh smorrebrod sandwiches

More on Cab Franc from the Crew at #WinePW

I am lucky enough to get to collaborate with these amazing writers in the #WinePW group each month. This month you will find us writing about Cab Franc from all over the world! Take a look below to see the varieties of places you can find Cab Franc is grown and an even wider selection of pairing ideas!

Culinary Adventures with Camilla – Honey-Lemon-Sesame Drizzled Plancha’d Veggies + Garzón 2018 Reserva Cabernet Franc
A Day in the Life on the Farm – Hungarian Short Ribs Paired with Dracaena Cab Franc
The Quirky Cork – Francly Turkish! Turkish Cab Franc & Lamb Chops
Grape Experiences – Crush on Cabernet Franc!
Exploring the Wine Glass – Championing for Cabernet Franc; The True Underdog
Cooking Chat – Easy Bibimbap Recipe with Cab Franc Wine Pairing
The Swirling Dervish – Biodynamic Bourgueil from Laurent Herlin for #WinePW
My Full Wine Glass – Old World vs New World Cab Franc: Game On!
Always Ravenous – Cabernet Franc Paired with the Flavors of Persian Cuisine
Enofylz – Domaine Bousquet Gaia Cabernet Franc Paired with Sausage and Potato Pan Roast
Wine Predator – Cab Franc Thrives in California: Examples from Santa Ynez, Sonoma, El Dorado, Paso Robles #WinePW and St-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil’s Amirault “Le Vau Renou” 2016 Cabernet Franc
Avvinare – Cab franc in Friuli Venezia Giulia
Somm’s Table – Old World/NewWorld Cab Franc Explorations

Sources & Resources

More by Crushed Grape Chronicles on Cabernet Franc and Leah Jorgensen Cellars

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Robin Bell Renken I have always loved people’s stories. I spent a career in Theatre helping to tell stories, as a Stage Manager. Daily enabling artists to freely and safely tell stories through their art. Then I fell in love with wine. There are so many details, so many nuances, not just in the glass, but in the vineyard, the region and the people. As I met winemakers and vineyard owners and even the people in the tasting room excited to pour me a glass and tell me the story of this wine, I knew these were stories I wanted to share. I completed my study and became a Certified Specialist of Wine and continue learning daily as I meet and interview people in this industry.

Robin Renken is a wine writer and Certified Specialist of Wine. She and her husband Michael travel to wine regions interviewing vineyard owners and winemakers and learning the stories behind the glass.

When not traveling they indulge in cooking and pairing wines with food at home in Las Vegas.

Are you baking blueberry pie? Nope, that’s my Malbec.

Oct 17, 2018

We’ve been talking about the wines we tasted with Leah Jørgensen at the Uncommon Wine Festival back in July at Vista Hills Vineyard. And we have come to the end of our tasting. The 2015 Malbec is deep and rich and Leah tells us it smells like blueberry pie when it ferments. Mmmmm….now I’m hungry.

Leah sources most of her grapes from Southern Oregon’s Rogue and Applegate Valleys, but she makes her wines at Raptor Ridge in the Chehalem Mountains. She is a brilliant ambassador of Cabernet Franc, and while this Malbec may not be her signature grape, it really is delicious wine.

As this was the last wine we would taste with her, I wanted to savor it. She poured, and while I stuck my nose into the glass, she told me about the wine and how we had come full circle.

2015 Malbec from Leah Jørgensen Cellars

I have one more wine and it is a book end. The Sav Blanc that we started with and this wine are from the same vineyard. The Crater View Vineyard with all that Ancient marine material I was telling you about. So this is not like an Argentina Malbec, it’s got incredible acidity, it’s actually got one of the lowest pH’s of all the red that I bring in. So you get incredible acidity from this and it’s all bright brambly fruit. It doesn’t go as leathery, it does get plummy, but it just a very pleasant drinking Malbec.
It has a lot of structure and a lot of tannins and it’s really bright now, I wonder if you will get more of that leather and bottom that’s going to come out of it as it ages?
Well because there is so much acidity in this, I think it’s going to stay in a nice balance and I think that’s what makes the difference. So a lot of reds that we think are ageable reds, like cab savs from California, they don’t have the same acid profile, unless they add it. But it doesn’t naturally have the same acid, so they are going to have all that tannin structure and not as much acid, it’s gonna go in a certain direction. But when you already have berry fruit flavors on the palate and you have acid that’s already there it’s kinda like cab franc, it’s going to carry that wine.
Tell me how you make this then.
We pick it, it’s one of the last things that come through the door. The berries are big, they look like blueberries and when people come down in the cellar, they are like, “what is that smell?”. It is the most fragrant, aromatic, beautiful ferment in all of the cellar. It’s like blueberry pie, because you know that fermented yeasty and then the blueberry..it smells like blueberry pie, it’s delightful. It’s my favorite smelling ferment.
When we finish fermentation, we press it and we go straight to neutral barrel, so again, I used mostly neutral barrels. 8 months in oak just like the others, but we reserve in the bottle, I bottle age this a little longer. Just because I think it benefits from a little more time. We don’t make much of it, it’s not a flagship wine like the cab francs that we like to quickly release, cause we like to stay in business. But I can reserve this one a little bit. It’s not a one off but it’s something that we do that’s an extra. It happens to be my dad’s favorite. My dad love’s grilling and he does amazing dry rubs. He will do like a marionberry barbeque sauce with it, and it’s pretty good.

Marionberries…they are a Northwest thing and they are actually a variation on a blackberry. I had a slice of Marionberry pie the other night that was delightful and would have really been great with this wine and the thought of a marionberry barbeque sauce had my mouth-watering.

On other things

In between all of our discussions that you see on the video we also spoke about her 2016 Cab Franc, about Virginia, where she grew up and the amazing Cab Francs coming out of that region these days. She told me about working at Chrysalis Vineyard in Middleburg, the home of Norton. She and Asa got married in Middleburg and had their rehearsal dinner at Chrysalis. (Michael and I visited the area last year). We talked about their “Côte Clos Rogue Valley”, their homage to Clos Roche Blanche and their Grande Reserve which gets a little extra time in the barrel. We talked about neutral oak. Any new oak she gets is puncheons to allow for less surface area and she only uses those for the reserves.

Aging Cabernet Franc

We also discussed Cab Franc and it’s ageability.

When you compare it with other grapes it’s one of the few that have both (intense acid & tannins) and so that’s what makes a grape super ageable, it’s structure building, it adds structure and ageability to those blends. So Cab Francs on their own will age forever. You can put these down and they get more and more interesting over time. So even just seeing more time in the barrel then we hold the wines we reserve them for 9 months before we release them. So all that little extra time, you have to be patient, it’s hard to be patient when you are a new business, but it does make a difference in the quality of these cab francs.

Equestrian Wine Tours Oregon

At one point we got all distracted as a group of people on horseback arrived to the tasting. It was enchanting. And that was our conversation with Leah, just enchanting. Almost as enchanting as the thought of a fermentation room filled with the aroma of blueberry pie.

Find this wine and other details on LJC

Want to find a bottle? You can find it at Leah Jørgensen Cellars squarespace or look for one of the smart establishments that carry her wine. There is a list here.

This wraps up our conversation with Leah but you can check out our previous episodes with her that include: Leah Jørgensen – Pirate Princess & Winemaker, Grapes of Southern Oregon with Leah Jørgensen, Southern Oregon Sauvignon Blanc with Leah Jørgensen, Blanc de Cab Franc…What? Leah Jørgensen Cellars 2017 Rosé of Cabernet Franc and “Tour Rain” Vin Rouge – Leah Jørgensen Cellars

Check out Leah’s updated website at https://leahjorgensencellars.com/

You can find her on on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram too!

And join us back here at Crushed Grape Chronicles as we continue sharing our conversation with Leah! And don’t forget, you can also find us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram

Leah Jørgensen Cellars 2017 Rosé of Cabernet Franc

Oct 15, 2018

We’ve been talking with Leah Jørgensen of Leah Jørgensen Cellars about her wines. Today’s discussion is about her 2017 Rosé of Cab Franc. If you know Leah Jørgensen, it will not surprise you that her rosé is made of Cab Franc.

She is kind of putting Cab Franc on the map in Oregon. As they poured us a glass of this beautiful light pink/copper wine…I’ll let her tell.

Asa pouring the 2017 Rosé of Cabernet Franc

Leah Jørgensen Cellars 2017 Rosé of Cabernet Franc

This is our Rosé of Cab Franc and you notice it’s very very light pink. Ballet slipper pink is what I call it. If you do a saignee, you’re going to get a darker color. I don’t. In the Loire Valley they do more whole cluster and that’s what we’ve done here and so when you just dump it right into the press, you’re gonna get a very very fine pale pink. When you have Loire rosés from Cab Franc, they are always going to be this sort of onion peel skin, just a very light ballet slipper.
I love it, it’s coppery, it’s pretty and it’s very savory, it’s very dry and it’s….pink grapefruit and then savory, like herbal. Sometimes I get a little tarragon on it or elder flower, lime blossomy, orange blossom I guess, marmalade? I don’t know, it depends on my mood, what I’m tasting.
So you say that this is full cluster?
Yes, whole cluster, just dump it right in the press.
So with that, is it a really gentle press.
Yes, we do a white wine press.
So you are really not getting off of the whole clusters that way. Not a lot off the stem inclusion.
No and the truth is, red wine gets it’s color from the skins and that’s really from fermenting and getting deep extraction and doing cold soaks. So the berry is getting macerated slowly and naturally and you are getting more extraction. We’re not doing any of that, so we’re not fermenting on any of that. So we are literally pressing it to get this salmon color pink juice and then we basically rack into a tank that we chill for about 24 to 48 hours and then we rack back into, with the rosé, another tank, a stainless steel, this is all stainless steel and then it ferments in that tank. So you’re letting things just settle out but you’re still retaining a little color and it tends to get just lighter and lighter when fermentation completes.

Buxton Vineyard in the Rogue Valley

So what is special about that vineyard for you?
While the other vineyards that we work with in the Rogue have inter-marine shellfish this particular place is on a different part of the Rogue Valley it’s closer to Del Rio Vineyards, it’s on the other side of I-5 basically. It used to be under the Rogue River, so there’s River stone everywhere. It looks like Bordeaux basically, there’s just smooth river stones throughout the vineyard, but it’s still that clay, silty loam, river bottom soils.

Buxton Ranch and Vineyard sits just Northwest of the Rogue River near White City and Eagle Point. In addition to the 25 acre vineyard, they are a ranch and raise grass fed Angus/Wagu beef.

The winemaker’s description from her site

What is this lovely ballet slipper colored pink wine like? My first Rosé of Cabernet Franc! Coppery, Renaissance pink, Degas dancer, Cape Hatteras sunset, Valencia heirloom rose petals… smells like pink grapefruit meets cotton candy, marshmallow, marzipan, and ripe apricots, tastes that way, too, plus orange marmelade, green strawberries, summer fruit salad. Deeelightful! Pairs with anything, really.

More than just delicious

The 2017 Rosé of Cabernet Franc runs $22 and this is a wine with a mission. Leah donates a portion of the retail sales of this wine to women’s academic scholarships.

Want to find a bottle? Head to Leah Jørgensen Cellars squarespace or look for one of the smart establishments that carry her wine. There is a list here.

We are going to continue our chat with Leah Jørgensen. Next up is her 2016 “Tour Rain” Vin Rouge And check out our previous episodes with her Leah Jørgensen – Pirate Princess & Winemaker, Grapes of Southern Oregon with Leah Jørgensen, Southern Oregon Sauvignon Blanc with Leah Jørgensen, and Blanc de Cab Franc…What?

Check out Leah’s updated website at https://leahjorgensencellars.com/

You can find her on on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram too!

And join us back here at Crushed Grape Chronicles as we continue sharing our conversation with Leah! And don’t forget, you can also find us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram

2017 Rosé of Cabernet Franc

Blanc de Cab Franc….What?

Sep 28, 2018

You probably have not heard of Blanc de Cab Franc. It is made in small quantities in the Loire Valley and now in Oregon. Leah Jørgensen decided to make Oregon’s first Blanc de Cabernet Franc back in 2011. Leah tells us how it happened.

Leah Jørgensen Blanc de Cabernet Franc

How Blanc de Cab Franc came to Oregon

“I was working at Shea Wine Cellars as a cellar worker and I knew I wanted to get my little project started. So my friend Chris Berg who owns Roots Wine Company with his wife Hillary is like “Hey I can get you a little cab franc”. It was from Walla Walla. I was like “Yeah I just need 750 lbs. “ No problem. So I got this cab franc and I was like “I’m going to make a white cab franc” I had one from the Loire Valley.
I used to sell an incredible book of Loire Wines in Washington DC before I moved out here and one of my accounts was the French Embassy. Because embassies in DC can’t go through their own countries, they have to, like everybody else, go through distribution. So I had the Austrian Embassy, the New Zealand Embassy, the French Embassy, was that it? Anyways, so I remember was at a tasting there and I had a white cab franc from the Loire. They are very rare, there’s very very few producers over there that actually make a white cab franc. But it was always in the back of my mind. I also love the sparkling wines from the Loire Valley. And many of them if they are white they have a base of cab franc often blended with chenin blanc or chardonnay or they make a rosé and I love those base wines as well.
Here in the Willamette Valley, so many producers of pinot noir are taking that cue from Champagne and they are of course making wonderful sparkling wines. You’re seeing more and more wonderful sparkling wines come out here, but they are also making white pinot noir. So to me it made sense, I’m going to do America’s first white cab franc. So that’s what I did. That was 2011 and I had one barrel, it was an oak barrel. Now I use exclusively Acacia. So you get all kinds of the bell pepper, it’s more poblano to me.”

Tastings and Pairings

The wine has a savoriness to it, and yes, that essence of poblano pepper. Leah says it goes well with roasted poblano with a cream sauce and roast chicken.

“I mean, honestly this wine, when you get it on the palate it still has so much acidity, it get’s macadamia, it kinda goes all over from fruity to herbal to nutty. But it still goes so beautifully with scallops and shellfish, but then like pork chops with apple compote, some strange little Germanic, that direction.”

Descriptions and suggestions from her website: this medium-bodied wine typically has delicate nuances of “early blush” apricot, golden raspberries, Meyer lemon, blood orange, white tea leaf, tarragon, and hazelnut – making up a pretty, complex white wine from red grapes.

This vintage, the wine also offers subtle botanical notes of elderflower, jasmine, lime blossom, sweet pea shoot, even a hint of ground cinnamon, with flavors of clementine, lemon meringue, light honey leading into a creamy and nutty mid-palate that finishes with refreshing salinity.

Drink now for freshness, but this wine will age in the bottle for a minimum of five years, due to the phenolic content from the red skins.

Pair with white fish or shellfish, especially oysters and scallops; pasta with simple cream sauce; pork chops with apple compote; roasted chicken; crab stuffed poblano peppers with cream sauce; polenta and beans; a young, creamy, nutty Gruyère.

The fact that this is a white wine made from a red grape in the white wine style is part of the reason that it is included in the “Uncommon Wine Festival”. This is the wine you want for a brown bag tasting with friends. It is sure to stump and intrigue everyone.

Leah Jørgensen Blanc de Cabernet Franc

The source of the Cab Franc – Mae’s Vineyard

The grapes for the 2017 no longer come from Walla Walla. They are from Mae’s Vineyard in the Applegate Valley, farmed by Herb Quady of Quady North. The vineyard was named Herb’s daughter Margaux Mae. The vineyard is “LIVE” certified sustainable.

Leah’s site gives you some more geeky details on the vineyard (love that)

” Planted in 2006, the vines are trained on a “V” type trellis that splits the canopy, allowing for lots of leaf area and diffracted light. The vineyard is planted 45 degrees to the east of North, giving more even light exposure during high summer, with south-southeast exposure.

The soil series is “Manita”, gravelly loam, granitic with red/yellow dirt. The Cabernet Franc clone is 214 on 3309 root stock.”

Want to find a bottle? Head to Leah Jørgensen Cellars squarespace or look for one of the smart establishments that carry her wine. There is a list here.

We are going to continue our chat with Leah Jørgensen. Next up is her Rosé of Cabernet Franc! And check out our previous episodes with her Leah Jørgensen – Pirate Princess & Winemaker, Grapes of Southern Oregon with Leah Jørgensen and

Check out Leah’s updated website at https://leahjorgensencellars.com/

You can find her on on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram too!

And join us back here at Crushed Grape Chronicles as we continue sharing our conversation with Leah! And don’t forget, you can also find us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram

“Tour Rain” Vin Rouge – Leah Jørgensen Cellars

Sep 25, 2018

“Tour Rain”

It’s a play on words and a bit of an inside joke on the label. Note the rain, the umbrella, the boots… Tour Rain speaks to the Touraine region of France as well as to Oregon Climate and Tourists. The ladies on Leah’s labels may look the same, each is really individual. It’s all about the details, just like her wines.

2016 Oregon “Tour Rain” Vin Rouge

Leah was graciously pouring us through her entire lineup and sharing so much information on her wines and philosophies.

“This is actually the first red that I made it’s a blend of Gamay and Cab Franc. It’s based on, or inspired by wines from the Touraine region of the Loire Valley around the city of Tours. It’s a little play on words. You’re in Oregon, you know, you might encounter some rain and Oregonians, we know don’t use umbrellas, that identifies a tourist, so we are being a little tongue in cheek, a little whimsical.
But not tongue in cheek about what’s in the bottle. For me, the Touraine, especially Clos Roche Blanche were my wines that I would always take to a dinner party. Clos Roche Blanche particularly was 40% Gamay, 60% Cab Franc and anytime I would go to someone’s house I would either grab a Morgon Beaujolais or I would grab a Touraine Clos Roche Blanche, because, it goes with everything, roast chicken, pasta, you name it. It’s a crowd pleaser, it’s got great acidity, amazing fruit. I wanted to make Oregon’s first version of that kind of wine, that blend.
So this is 40% Gamay Noir from Haviland Vineyard which is in the proposed Van Duzer Corridor. And the Cab Franc is from the Mae’s Vineyard in the Applegate Valley. And that’s the same vineyard where the White Cab Franc is from and it’s farmed by Herb Quady of Quady North.
You get a lot of those bramble berries, I love that fruit character to it. Gamay always has that white pepper on the finish. Just the two together I think are just really so complimentary.”

The Vineyards

We spoke before of Herb Quady and Mae’s Vineyard with the Blanc de Cab Franc. That vineyard is in the Applegate Valley.

Havlin Vineyard sits in the Willamette Valley in what will soon be the Van Duzer Corridor AVA (this AVA is just waiting for final approval). The area is known for it’s marine soils, and the corridor’s diurnal shifts in the summer due to the marine breezes. On her site, Leah says “Planted in 2011 with cuttings from Seven Springs Vineyard, this site has a south-west aspect planted in Dupee soils, which is a down slope Willakenzie soil series. This vineyard is dry farmed and LIVE certified.”

From the Winemaker

Here are some extra notes on this vintage from the winemaker on her site. Leah’s descriptions are so lush and vivid they must be shared.

“Perhaps the prettiest profile of our red wines (and especially the gorgeous color!), this blend is always a lovely balance of floral, red fruit, and a hint of pepper and sweet wood – with aromatics of ripe cherry, raspberry, cassis, hibiscus, rose petals, cedar, cigar box, vanilla bean, black puerh tea, and pink peppercorn, and then flavors of bing cherry, pomegranate, cranberry, raspberry, cocoa powder, clove, and roasted bell pepper – this wine has bright acidity and is juicy with rich, soft tannins – it’s light, lithe, flirty and bright. Enjoy slightly chilled (cellar temperature/58-64° F). Serve with pasta; spicy, rich Asian dishes (noodles); smoked salmon; charcuterie and cheese boards; beet salad; brick oven thin, bubbly-chewy crusted pizza; and skewers/kabobs.”

Want to find a bottle? Head to Leah Jørgensen Cellars squarespace or look for one of the smart establishments that carry her wine. There is a list here.

We will continue our chat with Leah Jørgensen tomorrow. Next up is her 2015 Malbec. And check out our previous episodes with her Leah Jørgensen – Pirate Princess & Winemaker, Grapes of Southern Oregon with Leah Jørgensen, Southern Oregon Sauvignon Blanc with Leah Jørgensen, Blanc de Cab Franc…What? and Leah Jørgensen Cellars 2017 Rosé of Cabernet Franc

Check out Leah’s updated website at https://leahjorgensencellars.com/

You can find her on on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram too!

And join us back here at Crushed Grape Chronicles as we continue sharing our conversation with Leah! And don’t forget, you can also find us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram

Leah Jørgensen

Cab Franc – Sailing the Loire with a Pirate Princess #WinePW

Cabernet Franc

The Cab Francs

Saumur Champigny

Val de Loire Réserve des Vignerons 2017 Saumur Champigny

Leah Jørgensen Cellars

Leah Jørgensen Cellars 2016 Cabernet Franc – Southern Oregon

So should we compare?

But wait! There’s more!

Pairing with Cab Franc – a cheese plate counts for dinner right?

Dinner pairing ideas (if you want to cook)

More on Cab Franc from the Crew at #WinePW

More by Crushed Grape Chronicles on Cabernet Franc and Leah Jorgensen Cellars

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Are you baking blueberry pie? Nope, that’s my Malbec.

2015 Malbec from Leah Jørgensen Cellars

On other things

Aging Cabernet Franc

Find this wine and other details on LJC

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Leah Jørgensen Cellars 2017 Rosé of Cabernet Franc

Leah Jørgensen Cellars 2017 Rosé of Cabernet Franc

Buxton Vineyard in the Rogue Valley

The winemaker’s description from her site

More than just delicious

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Blanc de Cab Franc….What?

How Blanc de Cab Franc came to Oregon

Tastings and Pairings

The source of the Cab Franc – Mae’s Vineyard

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“Tour Rain” Vin Rouge – Leah Jørgensen Cellars

“Tour Rain”

2016 Oregon “Tour Rain” Vin Rouge

The Vineyards

From the Winemaker

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