July 6, 2012

Caroline Cellars 2005 Cabernet Franc


Found July 2012

Sometimes when I "find" a bottle in my cellar I think to myself, "I really hope this one is good" - this was the case when I found this bottle of '05 Franc from Caroline Cellars, I wanted so much for this wine to be good.  The problem is that it was sealed with a plastic cork and thus did not stand a snowball's chance in hell of aging - how I wish producer would put a warning on the label when they use such a closure.  Back in its day it was a bronze medal winner at the Toronto Wine and Cheese Show; and looking back at the vintage 2005 was a great year for red, which means it had good pedigree; but this wine was oxidized all to hell and had a nasty smell and taste reminiscent of paint thinner.  The bottle showed great promise as it was stained purple on the inside, but the colour in the glass came closer to tawny port than it did red wine ... just wished it had tasted more like tawny than what it did taste like.  If you are unfortunate enough to have any of this in your cellar might I suggest another use for this wine, like as drain or toilet cleaner.  Sorry Caroline Cellars, you get my lowest rating in this column and all because you decided to use plastic instead of real cork.  Lost & Found Rating:  Trash


3 comments:

Southern Wine Trails said...

Thanks for the warning! I bought several bottles at Caroline this weekend. Will plan to put them in rotation and not cellar as originally planned. Could have used a warning for sure!

wino-fred said...

No Caroline Cellars wine in my cellar, thank goodness.

Michael Pinkus said...

Southern ... look under the capsule to see if they are still using plastic corks - if so then they are drink now, but most wineries have moved away from this poor closure for that very reason.