In the movie The Philadelphia Story, C K Dexter Haven (Cary Grant), describes to fedora-ed Macauly "Mike" Connor (an undercover reporter), following description of his former wife, Tracy Samantha Lords (Katherine Hepburn) - "She has a horror of men who wear their hats in the house." And that's my feeling about wine at the holidays. So many people don't take their hats off - No Merlot or Cabernet Sauvignon, or Zinfandel. Those go great with roasted meats - beef and pork and venison or bison. However, it's like taking a sledgehammer to a fly when talking turkey. A medium bodied red wine is what is called for to pair with turkey and/or ham. That's not a traditionalist - that's common sense.
Here are a bunch of wines that I tasted in 2025 - mostly Cabernet Franc, Blaufrankisch, Pinot Noir, Gamay Noir, and a host of other grapes - that are much more appropriate with the meal you are about to enjoy! I highly recommend any of these.
Above, Fjord Vineyards Estate Cabernet Franc 2023 is a 100% Estate grown Cabernet Franc was aged 8 months in 2-5 year old 500L French oak puncheons. The wine had real depth of color, and yet exhibited deep and concentrated notes of violets and dark berries. There were notes of spice on the palate along with fruit notes of blueberries and cherry. Incredibly complex and well balanced, this wine was soft on the end, and amazingly drinkable!
The Jones Family Farm Estate Grown, Connecticut, Cabernet Franc 2022 is a high watermark for the winery and the state. Winemaker Joseph Patrick fermented the wine on the skins for three weeks. It was then pressed into stainless steel tanks, and then barrel aged for twelve months in Hungarian oak. This produces a medium-bodied dry red wine with flavors of raspberries and ripe red fruits, with notes of spice and hints of cassis and tobacco . The finish is dry, and the fruit lingers for about 45 seconds in an absolutely beautiful way. Lovely complexity and balance. A super impressive wine!
Kareem Massoud is the winemaker (and member of the ownership family) of Paumanok Vineyards, and he is one of the best on the east coast. This Long Island Cabernet Franc is perennially among my favorite North Fork producers. Paumanok Cab Franc is special. It has loads of bright and ripe berry. Nice notes of spice. A hint of Eucalyptus. Well balanced tannins. Great complexity. You could really savor this wine. The cherry stretched out for a good long time. Exceptional!
Conor Quilty's New Jersey Meadowbrook Winery Whole Berry Cabernet Franc is exceptional. Hand harvested in mid-October of 2023, This is a 25% whole cluster wine, with destemmed whole berries making up the rest. It was inoculated with yeast, and after a long, slow fermentation, the wine then went through malolactic fermentation (on the lees in stainless steel) as well. The wine was then aged for five months in neutral oak. The first whiff is of cherry vanilla cobbler. Bramble. Notes of eucalyptus. With a long, long cherry finish. This is a soft approachable red, with soft tannins, and lots of fruit. A fantastic, easy drinking red. Cabernet Franc in the best, fresh, Loire-ish style. Absolutely fantastic!
One of my new finds of 2025, this 61 Gigante Sangiovese from 61 Vineyard, in Maryland, was one of the most tasty wines of the year. Without question, the star of the 61 Vineyard universe is the 61 Giganti Sangiovese 2023. An amazing wine. Big, and full of flavor, this wine is everything you hope it will be. Cherry, plum, and red currants with a hint of tobacco and spice, this wine was a revelation! Well balanced. Complex. Well wrought. Spectacular!
Old Westminster Rev is an exceptional is an exceptional blend of 40% Cabernet Franc, 35% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Merlot, 5% Chambourcin and 5% Petit Verdot. Winemaker Lisa Hinton's wine is a little heavier than I might normally recommend, but it drinks slightly lighter than it sounds. And it has great big fruit. The tannins are solid but not terse, leading to a super smooth drinking experience. Very approachable. Eye opening!
Cape May, New Jersey Barbera? Absolutely. Turdo Vineyards has been making incredible Italian varietal wines for more than two decades, and has never failed to impress. Incredible! This Turis Barbera started off with notes of bright and dark fruit. Big notes of stewed strawberries, cherry, raspberry, and plum. There were nice notes of anise and black pepper, with a lighter touch of vanilla. There was just enough acidity to lift the fruit up, giving the wine a terrific balance where the fruit lingered and lingered for a long time. Complex and well balanced, Turdo continues to excel with Italian varietals. You simply must go to Turdo Vineyards in Cape May, New Jersey. And taste some fo the best Italian wines you'll ever try.
Sugarloaf Mountain Comus Red is among the most impressive reds made from below the Mason Dixon line. This Maryland blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Malbec, Merlot, and Petit Verdot. Again, while it's a big wine, the fruit is intense and slightly lighter than one might be expecting. It's a big red, but it's elegant and refined. Again, a big wine for those who can't let go, but balanced and complex enough to make the traditional pairings work.
Maryland's Bordeleau Cabernet Franc Lot Number 6. "This Lot 6 Cabernet Franc is a blend of the selected barrels from three vintages and aged for an average of 36 months in a combination of French and American oak barrels. A small amount of Petit Verdot and Malbec were added to add complexity and to improve fruitiness," states Shelton. Red and dark raspberries, plums, strawberries, and red cherries, are all big on the nose, as this fruit forward Cab Franc begins its journey. The wine also exhibits spice, mocha, and black teas, and black pepper. For all these trumpeting attributes, the wine end of a smooth, velvety note, with long-lasting flavor. A fantastic Cabernet Franc!
Made by Dave Breeden, Sheldrake Point Gamay Noir 2023 is easily the darkest Gamay Noir the Finger Lakes estate has ever produced in my memory. The nose is an odd but absolutely alluring mix of dried flowers, cranberries, dark cherry and bramble. There are also notes of blueberry and peach cobbler here. Hints of eucalyptus. The cherry flavor lingers for more than 60 seconds, truly a sign of an exceptional wine, in this case. Easily one of the best Gamay Noir wines I have tasted anywhere in the world. Truly a remarkable bottling. And it is overwhelmingly underpriced at $22 a bottle! Buy as much as you can. This will last in any good cellar a minimum of seven years no problem. It will only get better. An absolutely outstanding bottle of wine. Incredible.
Richie Pisacano's Long Island Roanoke Vineyards A Cabernet Franc 2022. is made from a blend of estate Cabernet Franc and fruit from Onabay Vineyard, located on the Peconic Bay in Southold. The final blend is 88.8% Cabernet Franc and 11.2% Merlot. This wine was a rich tapestry of red and dark cherry and raspberry, with hints of cassis, tobacco, and spice. Nice grippy finish. This was an incredible wine. With complexity on every level, and great balance!
Bedell Vineyards of the north Fork is guided by Richard Olsen-Harbich, the Benjamin Franklin of Long Island wine. He wrote the AVA for he region. Helped to pioneer sustainable winemaking in the region, and has made some of Long Island's greatest wines. These days Bedell counts itself lucky to have winemaker Marin Brennan and Joe Cato pushing the brand to new heights. This Cabernet Franc is outstanding. Deeply colored, this wine exudes dark cherry and red raspberry fruit, with notes of vanilla and spice. Soft, easy to drink, and incredibly approachable, it is well balanced and complex enough for the most discerning of palates. An outstanding wine from a tremendously talented trio.
Fred Merwarth's Finger Lakes Hermann J. Wiemer Magdelena Vineyard Cabernet Franc is the winery's single-vineyard Cabernet Franc, a two-and-a-half-acre block within their Magdalena Vineyard. It is the ripest of all their fruit grown in that block. The wine shows shades of dark red and purple. On the nose and palate, dark cherries, Damson plums, and stewed cranberries come across. There's also an earthiness to the wine, and a lovely swirl of tannins and acidity that helps the fruit linger. Impressive.
Finger Lakes winemaker Dan Bissel's Keuka Spring Vineyards Classic Cabernet Franc is aged 13 months in oak after fermentation in neutral barrels. Big notes of cherry, dark raspberry, hints of cassis, with a silky smooth middle,, and a terrific finish with just enough tannins and black pepper to make this red wine finish bone dry yet fruity in the middle. Layer after layer of aromas and flavors. A wonderful New York State Cabernet Franc. A real win, and one of my favorite wines of the Cab Forward tasting held in NYC earlier in the year.
The Billsboro Cabernet Franc Sawmill Creek Vineyards is a standout in any year. I recently pulled it from my library to share with friends for dinner a couple of months ago. The nose explodes with a complex layer of raspberry, cassis, with hints of orange blossoms and spice. On the palate dark raspberry and dark cherry come across with notes of spice, toasty oak, and finishes with lovely peppery tannins. Incredibly well balanced, and super sophisticated, it is a spectacular wine. The newest vintages of this wine do not disappoint. Winemaker Vinny Aliperti has been doing magical things at his Finger Lakes winery.
William Heritage Reserve Norman's Vineyard Cabernet Franc is proof fine wine is not only possible in New Jersey, but rather, to be expected. This wine was an absolutely incredible statement about grape growing, wine production, and barrel aging in the Garden State. Previous vintages of this wine have captured very impressive accolades, And the 2022 is no exception. The wine is dark red with a purple tinge. Big pops of blueberry, violets, dark cherry, and cassis come off the nose, along with tobacco, and cocoa. There are also hints of fallen leaves and fresh wood. Big cherry and black currants are followed by tobacco on the palate as well, with notes of dark chocolate and vanilla. A lovely, big, medium bodied wine, with lots of flavor, solid tannins, and a nice dose of acidity make the fruit linger a long time after swallowing. Well crafted, complex and well balanced, this is a truly exceptional wine.
Bellview Cabernet Franc is another strong statement from New Jersey's Outer Coastal Plain that the region is a major producer of fine wines. And you should hurry up and get a bottle of this fine Cabernet Franc and see what it's all about. Great stuff! Congrats to Jim, Scott, and the whole Quarella family!
Lauren Zimmerman is among of incredibly gifted winemakers on the east coast. Port of Leonardtown Barbera Reserve is a medium bodied, dry red wine with flavors of black cherry, plum, raspberry, and a hint of tobacco. Aged in a variety of French oak, old and new, the resulting wine is a wonderful wine with rich flavor, excellent structure and incredible lingering flavor. Another great statement from Maryland. Fantastic wine!
Raffaldini Vineyards, located in North Carolina, is the Star of Winemaking in the South. Raffaldini Sangiovese Classico made from Yadkin Valley estate grown Sangiovese grapes(found most famously in Chianti). Owning to North Carolina's hot, humid summers, makes growing Chianti in this region quite the challenge. But Raffaldini has found a way not to just endure, but to succeed. The grapes are also put through the Appassimento drying process to further concentrate the structure of the wine. Winemaker Chris Nelson then uses the classic Italian technique called Ripasso which utilizes grape skins from another pressing and “repass” the fresh pressed Sangiovese wine over these skins to further deepen the wine. The result is a wine of great quality and incredible taste. An impressive red filled with dried cherries, dark raspberries, and cassis. A terrific food wine. This wine absolutely has its heart in Italy. A must try!
It was Gianni Zonin who first brought Gabriele Rausse to Virginia's shores. Rausse is from Vicenza, Italy. Zonin asked Rausse to come to America with him to plant European Vitis Vinifera grapes. He made wine at numerous stops, but in the intervening years Rausse went on to establish his own winery, as well helping others to plant theirs. He is considered the Godfather of Virginia wine. Gabriele Russe Malbec Turk Mountain Vineyards is 100% Malbec. It was hand-harvested in lugs, destemmed, sorted, and pressed. It was fermentation in stainless steel, with two to three punch-downs per day. 100% aged in French oak barrels for about 9 months (25% 4-year old barrel and 75% 5-year old barrels). Malolactic fermentation was done in barrel. Hand bottled. 99 cases produced. This lovely medium bodied dry red was incredible All the jammy notes, with stewed red fruits, and a touch of prune and plum, was absolutely delicious! And the fruit lasted a long, long time on the palate. The Godfather of Virginia wine is alive and well. And his Malbec is outstanding.
Ankida Ridge, located in Virginia, makes one of my favorite east coast Pinot Noirs. This high elevation wine, grown in Virginia's Amherst Valley's panoramic wine country is outstanding time after time. Notes of wild blackberries, dark cherries, vanilla, forest floor come across on the nose. The wine is balanced, lovely, bright fruit, good acidity, and lovely tannins, there's a hint of spice, and finishes with a light touch of tea. Subtle, approachable, delicious.
Founder Gino Razzi, and his daughter, the ever effervescent Carley Razzi, run Pennsylvania's venerable quality winery Penns Woods. The husband-and-wife team of Davide Creato (Winemaker & Vineyard Manager) and Andrea Creato (Chief financial & operating officer) round out the group that currently runs this dynamic winemaking operation. I was at the East Coast Winery Exposition 2025. There, I got to try the Penns Wood Pinot Noir. This wine was aromatic, complex, with a great floral and fruity nose, deep cherry, raspberry, and plumb notes, and terrific acidity and long lasting flavor! One of the most memorable wines of the expo! And another reminder of how well Penns Woods does Pinot Noir!!!!
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