Could Livermore Valley be the new Bay Area destination for cabernet franc?

On the first weekend of May, Livermore Valley will host its second annual CabFranc-a-Palooza, a three-day wine extravaganza with blind sensory tastings, a Francs ‘n’ Franks event (featuring bespoke sausages by the Livermore Butcher Shop) and a grand tasting featuring the cabernet franc offerings of more than 50 wineries around the world.

Spearheading the celebration is Steven Kent Mirassou, who along with Momentous Hospitality, the hospitality company he co-founded with his wife and two friends, is on a mission to make Livermore Valley a global cab franc destination.

“We believe that cab franc is the most delicious and alluring and sexy variety (of grape) out there, and it grows extremely well in Livermore,” he says. “We feel that if we can get a critical mass of wineries in Livermore working toward making great cabernet franc, it will be a magnet for people who love that variety.”

The effort seems to be paying off. Now, he says, more than half the wineries in Livermore are making a cabernet franc.

Part of that he attributes to the Tri-Valley’s terroir. The valley’s rare east-west orientation as well as its proximity to the Bay and the Altamont Pass help produce balanced fruit, he says. And as the climate changes, he’s seeing an increase in wind frequency. Grape vines tend to shut down when it’s windy, which limits sugar production in the grapes and ultimately, the alcohol concentration in the resulting wine — making it a bit lighter than the wine from cabernet sauvignon grapes.

Cabernet franc represents only a small proportion of the grapes processed for winemaking in California, Mirassou says. Some 11,650 tons of cab franc grapes were crushed last year compared with 646,940 tons of cabernet sauvignon, according to the state Department of Food and Agriculture’s annual Grape Crush report. Cabernet sauvignon grapes represent about 17 percent of all the grapes crushed statewide, second only to chardonnay.

“We’re really excited about the momentum we seem to be generating,” he says. “If we can surf this small wave — and if it becomes a bigger wave — Livermore Valley has a chance to get out (from) beneath the shadows of other, more famous regions and really become a bona fide home for something spectacular.”

Details: CabFranc-a-Palooza runs May 3 through 5 at The Purple Orchid Wine Country Resort and Spa, 4549 Cross Road in Livermore; cabfrancapalooza.com.