Year after year Frank Family Vineyards is one of the great overall lineups of wine that you will taste in the Napa Valley, first founded back in 1992 by Rich and Leslie Frank. Rich Frank is former President of Disney Studios. A world-traveller, Frank time he knew that Napa Valley was the perfect setting to start a winery. Rich had an incredibly successful career and under his leadership, television and movie properties such as Cheers, Entertainment Tonight, Golden Girls, Ellen, Dead Poet’s Society, Pretty Woman, Aladdin, and The Lion King achieved worldwide acclaim. Rich also is the longest serving President of The Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (Emmys).
Leslie also had an incredibly successful career, spending more than 25 years covering news stories, and the last nine years of her TV news career reporting and anchoring at the number-one-rated station, KABC in Los Angeles. Prior to Los Angeles, Leslie was the main anchor at KCPQ, the FOX affiliate in Seattle, where she helped launch its 10 pm newscast, taking it to number one in its time slot and receiving an Emmy for Outstanding News Anchor. Rich and Leslie are fully invested in Frank Family Vineyards' as they manage everything from vineyard purchases, to sales and marketing.
For years I have been so impressed by the wines made by winemaker Todd Graff who started with Frank Family back in 2003. He has done an immense job by helping put Napa Chardonnay on the national stage with the wines that he crafts. In 2022 there were heat spikes at harvest. Speaking with winemaker Todd Graff he stated “I had never experienced heat spikes like that and the length of it was crazy. We didn’t have the color and any damage that the skins got we tried to bypass as much as possible. Do the whole cluster pressing. Carneros has really nice acidity and we were able to maintain those. I am very pleasured with how they turned out.”
The 2021 reds were amongst the finest I have tasted from this house. “2021 was a drought years and the crops were small and concentrated. Benefited from less production and a winemaker’s year, not a bankers year. Really concentrated fruit. The 2021 Patriarch in particular was a knockout bottling that was amongst the finest I have ever had. “This wine comes from this volcanic rocky soils going up to the Silverado Trail, up a bit. Naturally terraced over time. A little more similar to like Pritchard Hill, closer to that than anything that would be Rutherford. More black fruit with intensity and concentration. It is a great vineyard and I am lucky to have worked with it over 23 years. My tasting group last year we did the 2013 wines and I put the Winston Hill in that. We loved them all!”
He looks to 2023 being another “great year.” He stated “2023 and 2024 and now 2025 we are all excited about this vintage. 2023 looks really good and I am actually opening those for some tasting on Monday. That vineyard is pretty consistent with that black, dark concentrated fruit. 2023 was a late harvest.”
Do not miss out on his new 2023 Frank Family Vineyards ‘Napa Valley’ Chardonnay (OB, 93) which is a killer wine for the price. Learn more about these brilliant new wines at https://www.frankfamilyvineyards.com Here are my reviews of the great new wines by Frank Family Vineyards.
2023 Frank Family Vineyards ‘Carneros’ Chardonnay- The 2023 ‘Carneros’ Chardonnay is another outstanding effort by winemaker Todd Graff. Generous and rich, this delivers rich marzipan, pastry crust and Japanese pear flavors with salted kumquat on the palate. Rich and viscous with an inviting mouthfeel, enjoy now and over the next eight to ten years. Drink 2025-2033- 93
2022 Frank Family Vineyards ‘Sangiacomo Vineyard Reserve’ Chardonnay- The heady 2022 Frank Family Vineyards ‘Sangiacomo Vineyard Reserve’ Chardonnay is a gorgeous bottling that shows off the heat of the vintage. It is rich, unctuous and round on the mouth with buttered French bread and shortbread notes alongside saline drenched pears and shades of vanilla bean. This is already really nicely defined. Drink 2025-2033- 94
2022 Frank Family Vineyards ‘Lewis Vineyard Reserve’ Chardonnay- The Lewis Vineyard is located in the Carneros appellation. Once on the nose this takes on ripe pineapple and mango notes alongside salted praline. The palate is dense and heady with serious viscosity and weight — and is showing glorious length with loads of salty minerals. A joy to consume now, enjoy over the next eight plus years. Drink 2025-2035- 95
2022 Frank Family Vineyards ‘Beckstoffer Carneros Lake Vineyard’ Chardonnay- A dense and hedonistic bottling, the 2022 Frank Family Vineyards ‘Beckstoffer Carneros Lake Vineyard’ Chardonnay exudes class with baking spice laced pie crust, toasted walnut and shades of white peach on the palate. Full-bodied with serious texture and weight, this is already drinking beautifully right now. Drink 2025-2033- 94
2021 Frank Family Vineyards ‘RHF’ Cabernet Sauvignon- The 2021 ‘RHF’ Cabernet Sauvignon is a stunning wine that is drinking marvelously right now. Inky in the glass, this shows vivid dark currants, pencil lead and loamy soils on the nose. The palate is concentrated and seamless with outstanding verve and viscosity, loaded with rich dark fruits with chocolate and espresso bean accents. Gorgeous to consume now, watch this evolve over the next fifteen years to come. Drink 2025-2040- 94
2021 Frank Family Vineyards ‘Winston Hill’ Cabernet Sauvignon- The stunning 2021 Frank Family Vineyards ‘Winston Hill’ Cabernet Sauvignon is a killer melange of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc with a splash of Petit Verdot. Stored in 75% new French oak this offers blueberry pie, mocha, tar and anise notes on the nose alongside suggestions of Arabica bean. The palate is lush and round with velvety tannins a terrific texture and sense of mouthfeel. Finishing long with dark fruits, and loamy/rocky soils, alongside sweet pipe tobacco accents, enjoy now and over the next twenty years to come. Drink 2025-2045- 96
2021 Frank Family Vineyards ‘Patriarch’ Cabernet Sauvignon- Another amazing rendition of this wine, the 2021’Patriarch’ was aged for 21 months in 75% new French oak barrels prior bottling. It is up there with the ’19 as the finest renditions of this wine that I have tasted. Ultra-dark in the glass, this shows off creme de cassis, dusty soils, violets, tar and black licorice notes on the nose. The palate is silky and refined as this glides throughout the drinking experience. Very well-structured, with copious minerals and refined tannins, this really needs another year in the cellar for everything to come together. Your patience will be rewarded. Drink 2026-2050- 98