#112 "Cab Franc Forward" Kick-Off

The winemaking regions of New York might begin to agree on a "signature" red grape variety. Cabernet Franc is the candidate.

Attendees for the kick-off of the Cab Franc Forward coalition, (front row from left): Kareem Massoud, Paumanok Vineyards and Palmer Vineyards, Gabriela Macari, Macari Vineyards; Max Rohn, Wölffer Estate Vineyard; Yannick Benjamin, Restauranteur, Sommelier & Guest Host; (back row, from left): Anthony Martignetti, Old Sound Vineyard; Russell Moss, Milea Estate Vineyards; Bruce Murray (me), Boundary Breaks Vineyard; Oskar Bynke, Hermann J. Wiemer Vineyards; Matthew Spaccarelli, Fjord and Benmarl Vineyards; Byron Elmendorf, Macari Vineyards. Not pictured: Roman Roth; Wölffer Estate Vineyard.

About a month ago, I took a phone call from the head of a winery on Long Island. He asked me if I would be interested in collaborating with other wineries around New York State to promote Cabernet Franc as “the signature red grape of New York.”

A “signature grape variety” for a region is the grape used to make the wine that the region is best known for. So, in Oregon, Pinot Noir is the signature red grape. In California’s Napa Valley, Cabernet Sauvignon is the signature grape. In Germany, Riesling is the signature grape.

Every successful wine region has both a signature red and white grape. Here in the Finger Lakes, we have a signature white grape—Riesling—but no signature red grape. I have felt for a long time that the signature red grape should be Cabernet Franc. But I am only one voice, and it takes more than one voice the make something significant happen.

So, when I got that phone, I thought. “Perfect. More voices for Cab Franc. I’m in.”

It takes a long time to persuade the wine community to respect a region for doing a great job with a specific grape variety. It takes years of producing uncommonly good wines from that grape variety to earn that respect.

The economics of wine marketplace demand that you try. If you don’t earn the respect for the particular grape variety, sooner or later another region will.

The recognition of Riesling as the signature white grape for the Finger Lake has taken 25 years. Riesling wines have also been made at a consistently high level by many, many wineries in the area for the last 15 years. And that has been very good for the region overall. Not just the wineries, but all the other businesses in the agri-tourism industry: the breweries, distilleries, cheese-makers, restaurants, hotels and owners of short-term rentals like Airbnb.

We have seen the value of having a signature white grape, so it is time to rally around a signature red grape variety in this region. Pinot Noir has been a candidate. So has Blaufränkisch (also known as Lemberger). But there are challenges associated with each of those grapes. And it is unlikely that Pinot Noir or Lemberger would be under consideration to be a signature grape varieties throughout New York State. If we want to get a critical mass of quality wine producers behind a single red grape variety, it makes sense to choose one for the entire state of New York.

It is hard to get everyone to agree on these types of questions. Winery owners are a famously independent spirits. But if a group from Long Island, the Hudson Valley and the Finger Lakes want to pool their efforts to support Cabernet Franc that is a very good start.

As is the case with any promising new initiative, we all have high hopes. But we also know that it is a long road ahead.