2014 Darioush Napa Valley Cabernet Franc

Darioush was founded by Darioush Khaledi, who grew up in Iran’s Shiraz winemaking region. His father made wine as a hobby and when Darioush immigrated to the U.S. in the late 1970s he turned his interest into collecting wine toward the idea of having a wine estate. After a career owning and running a grocery store chain in Southern California, Darioush created an estate on the Silverado Trail with vineyard appellations in Napa Valley, Mt. Veeder and Oak Knoll. The 22,000 square foot winery is modeled after ancient Persian monumental architecture. Darioush makes Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz, Merlot, Malbec, Chardonnay, Viognier, Pinot Noir and a dessert wine.

Napa Valley AVA is the most famous winemaking region in the United States and one of the most prestigious in the world. With nearly 43,000 acres of vineyards and more than 300 wineries, it is the heart of fine wine production in the United States. Winemaking started in Napa in 1838 when George C. Yount planted grapes and began producing wine commercially. Other winemaking pioneers followed in the late 19th century, including the founders of Charles Krug, Schramsberg, Inglenook and Beaulieu Vineyards. An infestation of phylloxera, an insect that attacks vine roots, and the onset of Prohibition nearly wiped out the nascent Napa wine industry in the early 20th century. But by the late 1950s and early 1960s Robert Mondavi and other visionaries were producing quality wines easily distinguishable from the mass-produced jug wines made in California’s Central Valley. Napa Valley’s AVA was established in 1983, and today there are 16 sub-appellations within the Napa Valley AVA. Many grapes grow well in Napa’s Mediterranean climate, but the region is best known for Cabernet Sauvignon. Chardonnay is also very successfully cultivated, and about 30% of the AVA’s acreage is planted to white grapes, with the majority of those grapes being Chardonnay,

This is a parent grape to Cabernet Sauvignon. It most likely originates from Basque country. It is an excellent blending grape, known for making the exquisite Cheval-Blanc. Franc is a little hardier on a vine than Sauvignon, but drinks smoothly at the table.