Cabernet Franc 2024, 13th Street Winery

Description from the Producer

The 2024 Cabernet Franc is 100% aged in stainless steel tanks, which preserves the true varietal characteristics. This also allows the wine to have bright acidity and lots of fruit-forward flavours while being very food-friendly. Sourced from Bench vineyards. Harvested in late November. After crushing and de-stemming, the must and skins were moved to stainless steel fermenters where the primary fermentation took place over 3 weeks with pump-overs for colour and flavor extraction. After pressing, malolactic fermentation was completed in 100% stainless steel tanks where the wine was kept until bottling in February 2026 following a light fining and filtration. VINTAGE NOTES A mild winter with warmer-than-average temperatures led to an early bud break (May 7 th ) in 2024. A light spring frost followed shortly after, causing a slight reduction in bud viability in specific varieties, reducing overall yield. Conditions throughout summer were favourable for canopy development and fruit maturity, consisting of above-average temperatures with little precipitation. Late August, the warm weather cooled off slightly, delaying what was expected to be an exceptionally early harvest. The first grapes to come into the cellar were Chardonnay for sparkling the second week of September, followed by early ripening whites such as Pinot Gris and Riesling. Harvest continued throughout October and November, with later ripening reds, ending with Cabernet Sauvignon in mid-November. The quality of the grapes was very good to excellent, with concentrated flavours and high colour development throughout the portfolio. Wines should have the capacity to age for the medium to long term. Comparable to the 2020 vintage.