I've been saving this for a rainy day because I couldn't think of anything more fitting than Uva Mira Mountain Vineyards' recently released The Mira Cabernet Franc 2021 on a dreary Cape day (there aren't many).
The maiden vintage of this specific wine signifies a few new things about Uva Mira Mountain Vineyards, Helderberg, the market, and Cabernet Franc itself. Which in one (admittedly long) sentence would read: Cabernet Franc grown on the cooler slopes of the Helderberg has proven to be such a crowd-pleasing, earlier drinking style of wine, Uva Mira has produced a single-varietal Cabernet Franc at a more accessible price-point within their The Mira range, to address market trends, and highlight growing confidence in single-varietal Cabernet Franc as a calling card of the Helderberg.
While the recently released The Mira Cabernet Franc officially sits at R290, it is currently offered at an introductory R230 a bottle, which, in comparison to their other two Cabernet Francs (The Dance is priced at R950, and the OTV Cab Franc-dominant blend at R1700 a bottle) is a literal steal, made as it is from their 2.5ha of carefully planted Cabernet Franc on the cool, panoramic, Western slopes of the Helderberg, and overlooking False Bay.