2023 Lang & Reed Cabernet Franc California 750 ml

Nobody is wiser about California Cabernet Franc than John and Tracey Skupny. 

Sure, Cabernet Franc is having a moment in the Golden State right now. But the Skupnys felt the pull of the Loire Valley’s great Cabernet Francs eons before just about anyone else in California, and have now championed the variety for nearly three decades. 

John took a daring plunge into winemaking: He decided to pursue a viticultural career on an endless night of waiting tables—during the third spin of Steely Dan’s “Aja,” in case you were wondering. After he moved to Napa, he got to work under Chuck Wagner, Bernard Portet, and Dan Duckhorn. 

The Skupnys fully surrendered to Cabernet Franc in 1993, launching Lang & Reed to pursue a Bordeaux expression on Napa soil. Their devotion to the grape earned the respect of Food & Wine Magazine, which reasoned that the winery’s pursuit “would get them points for tenacity even if they weren’t also making really good wine.” 

The San Francisco Chronicle hails Lang & Reed Cabernet Franc as a “wonderful food wine,”and the 2023—featuring fruit culled from top vineyards in Lake County, Mendocino, Alexander Valley, and Lodi—is an essential bottle for any oenophile. You’ll even find it being poured with the pescado zarandeado at SF’s two-Michelin-starred Californios. 

Pescado and red wine? You better believe it. This Cab Franc offers a fresh perspective when paired with this zippy, mustardy, multilayered dish, lifting the herbal and tangy components. No matter what you pair it with, you’ll see that this is a wine that makes all kinds of food shine.