Usonia Wine's Current Releases (Finger Lakes, NY)
No.53 | Producer Feature
I’m sure many out there (professionals and enthusiasts alike) that can attest to the fact that, for one reason or another, there are just some wines stay cemented in our brains long after the glass or bottle is finished. This was my first experience with Usonia Wine’s Cabernet Franc. I tried Julia and Alex’s Cab Franc for the first time when I was part of Lenn Thompson’s Cabernet Franc tasting panel in February 2023. That day I tasted their 2021 Cabernet Franc blind among some 20+ Cabernet Francs from the Finger Lakes along with another 50 or so other Cab Francs from the east coast of the US, and to this day, this wine still stands out in my memory. And I think it has stuck with me among the many Cabernet Francs I tasted that day because it tasted the most “familiar” to me. There was something about it that I instantly recognized and immediately said, “oh! This my kinda Cabernet Franc.” It was bright, juicy, a little wild, distinctly herbal, with soft, supple tannins, and it had that oh-so-crushable drinkability to it. I was an instant fan.
When I had the pleasure of finally meeting Julia and Alex Alverez-Perez of Usonia Wine, it was at the Falls Wine Room in Ithaca later that year when I led a Cabernet Franc seminar at the shop. Not only was I impressed that they took time out of their Saturday evening (in the middle of harvest no less!) to come to the event, but they came because of their sheer love of Cabernet Franc and their desire to taste, discuss and learn more about their favourite red variety - an arguable the most important red variety in the Finger Lakes. While I didn’t have the answers to all of their technical questions, their enthusiasm and curiosity for the grape was palpable - a veritable one-two punch of character traits that I think all the great Cabernet Franc winemakers possess.
Since launching Usonia Wine in 2019, Julia and Alex have made Cabernet Franc an important part of their range and are currently working with fruit from two vineyards in the Finger Lakes to craft their expressions of the variety. The Serenity Vineyard is on the west side of Seneca Lake and is farmed by the team from Hermann J Wiemer. While the exact age of the vines isn’t known, it is believed they were planted in the late 1990s, and the soil is deep, Lima loam, which has a stony, clayey texture. The second vineyard is their “home vineyard,” the New Suns Vineyard, which they acquired in 2021. This site is on the west side of Cayuga Lake, and the Cabernet Franc was planted in 2005 and the soil here is Cazenovia silt-loam over shale. Across both sites, they strive for a yield of 2 to 3 tons/acre while ensuring the canopy and fruit yield are balanced, performing green harvesting when necessary, and doing selective leaf pulling on the east side of the canopy so the bunches receive the gentler, early morning sunshine.
In the cellar, they take a low intervention approach striving to work as “naturally” as possible, while still understanding that wine “does not make itself.” They approach their ferments thoughtfully and patiently, and know when to step in as needed to craft clean wines with personality. When it comes to Cabernet Franc, one of their takeaways from working with the variety over the last few years is simply, less is more. They have learned to work extremely gently with their Cabernet Franc fruit, never crushing the berries, opting for maceration through “infusion” rather than active extractions, and they strive to keep the macerations shorter to achieve an elegant expression of the variety. And they recognize that there is a razor thin line between finesse and rusticity when it comes to Cabernet Franc. Alex noted “it can take unexpected turns during élevage… [and] the only answer we've found is to get out of the way, be patient, and give it time.” Words to live by, whether you are a winemaker or not!
Their current releases are two very different expressions of Cabernet Franc, but I think they just prove how well-adapted this grape is to the Finger Lakes and how, in the right hands, it can make characterful wines to appeal to a variety of palates regardless of the vintage conditions.
Their 2023 Cabernet Franc (SRP $28USD, 12.5% abv) comes from two sites, 75% coming from the Serenity Vineyard and the other 25% from the New Suns Vineyard. They chose to vinify the fruit from the Serenity Vineyard all whole cluster, while the fruit from the New Suns Vineyard was 100% destemmed, and aging was for one year in neutral oak. The wine opens with a very classic, cool-climate Cab Franc presence with a lot of lift, energy and crunchy fruit. The fruit profile on the nose shows a nice mix of red and dark fruits, such as cherry, black raspberry and red currant, and there is a touch of that classic candied note that I often get when Cabernet Franc is whole cluster fermented. The crunchy fruits are supported by notes of basil, black pepper, and violets. Overall, the Cabernet Franc varietal character is on full display with the fruit profile being balanced by beautifully managed herbal undertones. The palate is spicy, exuberant and fresh, with zippy acidity that works seamlessly with the wine’s piquant, crunchy berried fruits that remain consistent on the palate. The tannins are well-managed, with a tightly woven, percale cotton texture that have a pleasant softness through the middle palate and finish with a touch more grip. This Cabernet Franc is juicy, medium-bodied, with a touch of brisk, wild energy that is deliciously quaffable and a joy to drink. I tasted this wine over a few days, and I think it will continue to evolve nicely in the bottle and delivery unapologetically fun and fresh drinking pleasure over the short to medium term.
The 2022 New Suns Cabernet Franc (SRP $32USD, 13% abv) immediately puts the vintage front and centre. Actually, with the 2022 Usonia Cabernet Franc fresh in my brain, having had it again just before the holidays, you can see that these two wines are very much cut from the same cloth, so to speak. The 2022 vintage was marked by an extremely cold winter that result in widespread vine damage across the region, but if you were blessed with some fruit (and many were not), the yields were low and the berries grew and ripened under very warm, dry conditions. They opted for a more “classic” approach for the vinification of this wine using 100% destemmed fruit, and the aging was in neutral barrels for a year followed by one year of aging in bottle prior to release. The nose opens with a brooding mix of dark berried fruit like black raspberry, black currant and plum, with pyrazines taking a backseat to this most impressive display of fruit. With a bit of oxygen, the wine’s Cab Franc energy begins to punch through with earthy, forest-y undertones of cedar leaves, spruce tips, plush sage leaves, and succulent summer florals drawing you in with every subsequent swirl. The palate is concentrated and layered, with a suave mix of black and white peppercorns, chilli flake and clove, and the fruit and spice are supported by soft but cleansing acidity, and tannins that are densely packed, firm and velvety. It is a powerful (for the Finger Lakes!), broad-shouldered Cabernet Franc that is impressively structured and will likely need a bit of time for all of its components to integrate, though it still presents very harmoniously in its youth. As with the 2023 Cabernet Franc, I followed this for a few days and found that the acidity became more pronounced with time and the wine began to unfurl nicely, so there is indeed a bit of “baby fat” on this wine that will melt away with time and reveal more nuance in what is currently a very fruit-forward, indulgent Cabernet Franc.
It has been a delight to follow Julia and Alex’s journey with Cabernet Franc since tasting their 2021 vintage a little over two years ago, and this is a Finger Lakes producer I will continue to watch with much enthusiasm over years and decades to come.
ICYMI
Over the month of February I posted three new tasting videos featuring some terrific Loire Valley Cabernet Francs, including my first deep(ish) dive into the appellation of Saumur Puy-Notre-Dame and a most unexpected style of Cabernet Franc - a traditional method sparkling RED! Links to watch those videos on YouTube are below:
Domaine de la Paleine, 2020 Saumur Puy-Notre-Dame
Domaine Saint-Just (Arnaud Lambert), L’Ardoisier Méthode Traditionnelle Rouge
Domaine Frédéric Mabileau, 2020 Saint-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil “Les Coutures”