Cabernet Franc
⏳ Drinking Window
2022 - 2027
🍽️ Food & Wine Pairings
roasted duck, grilled lamb chops, portobello mushroom burgers
✨ Technical Specifications
While Dominion Tantara is highly celebrated for its elegant Pinot Noirs and Chardonnays, their limited-production Cabernet Franc highlights the incredible climatic diversity of Santa Barbara County. Sourced from select warmer microclimates within the region, such as the Santa Ynez Valley, this wine benefit from warm daytime temperatures and cool, marine-influenced nights. This diurnal shift allows the Cabernet Franc grapes to achieve optimal phenolic ripeness while preserving their natural acidity. Crafted using traditional French winemaking techniques, the wine showcases a sophisticated balance of ripe red fruit, signature herbaceous notes of sage and bell pepper, and a refined mineral backbone, reflecting the winery's commitment to site-specific, low-intervention expressions.
🍾 About the Producer
Established in 1997 by Virginia natives Bill Cates and Jeff Fink, Dominion Tantara (originally founded as Tantara Winery) was born from a mutual passion for cool-climate Burgundian varieties. Operating out of the historic Rancho Tepusquet within Santa Maria Valley's celebrated Bien Nacido Vineyard, the winery sources fruit from elite Central Coast terroirs, including Dierberg, Talley Rincon, Zotovich, and old-vine blocks of Bien Nacido. Benefiting from east-west transverse maritime corridors that funnel morning fog and cool Pacific winds across benchland sandy-loam soils, the estate emphasizes long hang-times with natural acidity preservation. Viticultural practices focus on sustainable management with meticulous canopy care. Cellar vinification embraces low-intervention Burgundian traditions: selective whole-cluster fermentations, native yeasts, and aging in fine-grained French oak barriques. Benchmark bottlings include single-vineyard expressions such as Bien Nacido Vineyard O Block Chardonnay, Zotovich Vineyard Chardonnay, and Dierberg Vineyard Pinot Noir, prized for their tension, crystalline minerality, and savory aromatic depth.
🍇 Grapes
Cabernet Franc