The Impact of Ripening Stage and Maceration Time on Cabernet Franc

I am on a quest to understand how to tell the hallmarks of a good Cabernet franc wine. This article, "Sensory representation of typicality of Cabernet franc wines related to phenolic composition: Impact of ripening stage and maceration time," was in my email box and it seemed the answer to the question of what a good Cabernet franc tastes like.
The previous blogpost, What is JAR? was written to familiarize myself with the definition of "typicality" in wine and how to measure typicality using the Descriptive Analysis (DA) and Just About Right (JAR) Analysis. The authors focused their research on the influence of the harvest date and the maceration time on the wine style.
What are the hallmarks of wine quality?
There were 12 identical wines used in the DA and JAR analyses made from Cabernet franc grapes grown in the Loire Valley. For the DA analysis, a panel of 17 judges not related to the wine industry was chosen. Wine samples were poured at room temperature and resulted in the generation of 15 attributes from the judges. The judges scores each of the 15 attributes on a scale with “low intensity” on the left and “high intensity” on the right.
For the JAR analysis, nineteen judges (5 winemakers, 7 oenologists, 4 wine-merchants-maturers and 3 technicians) took part in the experiment. Twelve attributes were selected for evaluation. The judges were instructed as follows: “for each descriptor”, answer the following question: “do you think this descriptor is ideal from a typicality point of view, too strong, or too weak?” The 19 judges also were instructed as follows: “For each wine presented, answer the following question: “do you think this wine is a good example or a bad example of what an Anjou-Villages wine is?”
The takeaway from this analysis was that ripening stage was more important than maceration time in determining the typicality of a Cabernet franc wine from the Anjou-Villages in the Loire Valley.

• Prediction of wine quality based on the berry composition should also include their extractability during winemaking
• Ripening stage had a major influence on tannin extraction: tannin extraction from skins increased with ripening and then decreased
• As expected, acidity was lower and anthocyanin and alcohol contents higher with more advanced ripening
• Phenolic composition at harvest also explained the wine style
• Wines from later harvests were richer in proanthocyanidins, which may be related to their higher typicality scores
• From a sensorial point of view, harvest date was significant for typicality assessment: wines with the latest harvest date were more typical. Maceration time was not significant

To be honest, I wasn't surprised at their results. When we harvest our Cabernet franc, we are always looking at the balance of brix (sugar content), pH and titratable acids. If the harvest can be prolonged and sugar accumulation continued, then our Cabernet franc has the typicity of a good Cabernet franc that we are aiming for. Is there a typicality for Cabernet franc wine made and grown from grapes in our corner of Connecticut, that is the question.
References:
1. Yves Cadot, Soline Caillé, Alain Samson, Gérard Barbeau, and Véronique Cheynier, "Sensory representation of typicality of Cabernet franc wines related to phenolic composition: Impact of ripening stage and maceration time", Analytica Chimica Acta, 732 (2012) 91–99.