Wine column: A celebration of Paso Robles cabernet franc
Neeta Mittal (from LXV and the Cab Franc event) Jason Santos (Sommelier, Justin Winery), and Wine Educator Wes Hagen.
– On March 16, the third annual CabFrancMasters was held at the Cass Winery event center in Paso Robles.
This special event was conceived by Neeta and Kunal Mittal of LXV Wine as a fun, educational experience, sharing their love and passion for Cabernet Franc with wine lovers.
Seminars and tastings
Over 100 wine enthusiasts attended the three-part full-day event, which started with “World of Franc,” a tasting seminar by wine educator extraordinaire Wes Hagen. With his unique style of combining humor, passion, a bit of “geekiness,” and an instinct for explaining complicated subjects in a simple-to-understand manner, Wes guided the group through a tour of Cabernet Franc “around the world.”
As we tasted cab francs from France (Loire Valley & Bordeaux), Italy, Argentina, and his beloved Santa Ynez Valley, sip by sip, Wes explained the characteristics and nuances of each region. Throughout his presentation, there were fun, engaging comments and questions from the enthusiastic group.
Next, Justin Winery Sommelier Jason Santos and Cass Winery’s Executive Chef Charlie Paladin Wayne led a delicious food and wine pairing seminar: “The Versatile Franc.” Demonstrating how food–friendly this wine can be was truly impactful.
Beef carpaccio.
Five Paso cab francs were paired with small bites: a taleggio cheese and roasted grapes crostini, roasted chicken with portobello mushroom and farro, a spicy Bibimbap Kimchi pork roll, a seared lamb with dark cherries and Dijon, and a chocolate and salted caramel truffle. Delving into the nuances of flavors and how they complement each other emphasized how wine and food work so well together.
The third event was a cab franc, “grand tasting and food pairing, walk-around.” On a beautiful afternoon, enjoying assorted small bites “inspired by celebrated cab franc-producing areas of the world,” the attendees had the opportunity to wander, taste, and talk with winemakers and winery representatives from the twenty-two producers pouring at this unique event. The wine, food, and people were themselves a great pairing.
Visit www.cabfrancmasters.com for a complete list.
Chocolate molten lava cake.
An evening to remember
Later that evening was the pièce de résistance: A five-course, wine-paired dining event at the Michelin-rated Restaurant at Justin Winery. Sommelier Jason and the Justin Winery team of Executive Chef Rachel Haggstrom, Executive Sous Chef Stanley Carbajal, and Pastry Chef Saree Musick created an inspiring cab franc paired dining experience.
The visual artistry of each dish, with wines paired, put an exclamation mark on the day. We savored a Santa Barbara uni, beef carpaccio, lamb culurgione, braised beef cheek, and a chocolate molten cake whose aromas, as it was placed in front of us, wafted up to tease our palate. In fact, at our table, there was a serious “When Harry met Sally” moment. The good part was, everyone was having what she was having! Oh! What a night!
Special thanks to Neeta, Kunal, and all the participants in the 2025 CabFrancMasters—savoring the day’s cab franc happening!
-Don Sonderling is a freelance writer covering California’s unique wine, food, and adventure lifestyle from Ventura to Napa Valley and beyond. He may be reached at donsonderling@gmail.com.
