suggested we make a wine for the pope, and that’s how the whole
idea started.”
When Pope Francis was named the 266th pope in 2013, Trinitas
Cellars had some cabernet franc in a barrel, which inspired them to
create Cabernet Francis.
“I fell in love with cabernet franc when I got into the business,”
Busch says. “I found a vineyard I really wanted to work with in
Knights Valley, just past Calistoga in Sonoma. It’s a hillside vineyard
[with] about 700-800 feet [of ] elevation. It’s an incredible vineyard
for growing grapes and makes an incredible cabernet franc.”
“We make ours a little fuller
bodied,” he says of their cabernet
franc. “We make sure the fruit is
nice and ripe, because cabernet
franc typically is a little lighter,
We barrel age it for almost two years in French oak. It’s one of our
favorite wines.”
Tim took a bottle of the first batch to Pope Francis in 2014. “Pope
Francis really enjoys wine,” Busch says. “He was very excited to have a
wine named after him.”
Hours later, Tim received a call from the Vatican reporting that the
pope had enjoyed the wine with lunch that very day and would like to
know where to get more.
“When he was here in the United Sta