2023 T. Berkley Cabernet Franc North Coast, California

Medium ruby-purple. Dark plum and baked boysenberry meet Bing cherry up front, then the savory register takes over: dried tobacco leaf, sage, black tea, and a graphite-edged, leafy lift that tells you this is Cab Franc handled honestly.

Taylor Berkley Boydstun's project — Loire-trained, working only in Cabernet Franc and Chenin Blanc, and the FRANC is deliberately built to steer clear of the plush Napa cliché. It's native-yeast fermented with roughly 25% whole cluster, then aged eleven months split between sandstone amphora and neutral French oak, no new oak to gloss over the varietal's green, savory core, and amphora to hold the line on freshness. It's essentially a Chinon sensibility applied to California fruit.