Huge fan of Detert here, both the CS and CF. I agree with Galloni that the CF is a fantastic wine, but it’s very much terroir driven, and I think you’d be hard pressed to identify it as CF in a blind tasting.
I opened a bottle of 2008 Detert cab franc a few weeks ago and thought it was so good that I opened another last night. Truly magnificent wines. The people are wonderful too. Between Detert and Macdonald (cool family connection between the two), you can’t go wrong.
Closer to Cab Sauvignon? If I really love Loire Valley CFs, would I like Detert CFs as well? Curious to try.
Well, the Detert CF doesn’t really have the pyrazine / bell pepper or the leafy notes that I associate with Cab Franc. So in that regard, they’re closer to Cab Sauv. Lots of black and blue fruit, plum, dark chocolate, some floral elements… They are complex, structured and well balanced between the fruit, acidity and tannin. They deserve 10+ years of bottle age or a good long decant.
Galloni on the 2014 Detert CF: “… one of the most distinctive wines in Napa Valley today. The Franc is not especially varietal in personality - especially compared to modern versions - instead it is the voice of the site that seems to come through above all else. An exotic mélange of dark cherry, mocha, plum and espresso notes all flesh out in the glass. … superb aromatic intensity, translucency and finesse for such a big wine. Don’t miss it.”
Awesome to know. Thank you for your note Andrew!
Definitely no love lost between Graeme and Constellation, not sure how much that translates to the “bottom line” of grape sales.
I think I signed up from 2019, no word other than waiting list confirmation. Thinking wait for least 5 or 7 years, just get MacDonald cheeseburgers today instead. 
Yep. Some combination of rising production and prices that gradually migrate up almost to the market prices. I’m guessing there isn’t a long wait to buy Harlan anymore, for example.
I signed up August 2016. Hopefully get on before a decade on the list!
I am thinking you meant 25 or 27 years, not 5 or 7. 
yes, I’m saving money for it
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I went in on the 2016 East Block, didn’t get the 2017 regular offering, and today received the 2018 regular offering. I’m definitely picking up a few of the 2018 CF.
I signed up for detert thanks to this forum and will receive an offering. Thanks team!
Bought Detert CS and CF in 2015. When I got 2016 allocation I got no cab so passed and passed again in 17. Got email today also. Think I’ll take some of the 18.
What’s the tariff on the Detert wines when bought direct? Shipping costs?
Wood case 3pack of 2016 East Block CF was around $45 shipping in CA
The problem is that you have not been around here long enough. This BB is probably responsible for getting the original word out on MacDonald after a pre-release tasting in some shithole in Brooklyn organized by one of us and attended by a bunch of us, back in about 2010. I think we were asked to vote on what label we liked.
Your best shot is to pray for the end of the pandemic and then come to New York when we finally have the long-awaited MacDonald vertical offline, which the brothers have promised to attend, and get to try some that way, although those of us with MacDonald collections expect to extract tastings of other unicorn wines that we have never had in trade. HOWEVER, Robert Dentice, the organizer of the aforementioned Brooklyn Shithole Tasting, was nice enough to give me a taste of Keller GMax early last year, so I am no longer in search of that. There are other candidates, however. ![[cheers.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/0/0ff9bfcdb0964982cd3240b6159868fbdf215b1a.gif "cheers"){kind=small}
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By the way, here are some photos to drool over. 
It was a rainy day in early December with fog
I’ve been a buyer since hearing about the tasting Counselor Hack mentions above.
They don’t raise the price, so that will never reduce time on the waiting list.
We often travel around the time of the release, but a note to Alex has always kept us going. One year when I forgot, Alex sent an email checking in on us, seeing if all was ok and asking if we wanted our allocation!
Hopefully production will increase soon so others can enjoy this great wine.
My pics are mid summer
The doggie is very cool.