I'm posting this here since almost the entire lineup was from California:

Friday evening I joined in a small tasting of Cab. Franc, which was quite interesting. One of the ringers of the evening, someone actually snuck in a Beaujolais Nouveau! All were tasted blind, and I forgot to get the BN producer. Here are my notes:

2002 Beaujolais Nouveau - very light in color, bright and fruity, but odd. No tannins, candy, dusty, with a metallic finish. Not good.

2000 Bouchet Cabernet Sauvignon – Very berry nose, with just a touch of green. Rich, well integrated smooth tannins with a good dose of oak. Very good.

1996 J. C. Pelletier Domaine des Beguineriers "Cuvee du Terroir"(this was my contribution, purchased at the source for $8.00). Sturdy and fairly tannic, showing a fairly green, but with some good fruit as well. A bit tart. Good.

2000 Crocker & Star Cab Franc – Outrageously terrific nose, blueberries, vanilla, and spice. Full, creamy texture, lively, and well structured tannins. Excellent, my wine of the tasting. Worth seeking out.

1998 Carmody Mcnight Cab Franc – Excellent nose showing vanilla, blueberries, with just a hint of green. Fairly tannic. Very good.

1999 Pride Cab Franc – Very excellent nose, oaky, tons of fruit, but it’s a baby, needs time. Excellent, but not as interesting as the Crocker Star.

1998 Shooting Star Cab Franc – A bit of a tart finish keeps this from showing better than it otherwise wood. Bright fruit and firm structure, good.

Another interesting tidbit, we ended up with two entries for the Pride, and nobody at the tasting pegged them as being the same. Once they were uncloaked and tasted against each other they were, of course, quite similar, but it's interesting how these blind tastings can go.