Cabernet Franc, 2018

Tasting Notes

The 2018 vintage had a slightly cool start but was otherwise warm throughout. The heat continued well into harvest, although some rather heavy rain events made the harvest somewhat challenging. Overall, the warmth lasted well into late October giving Cabernet Franc plenty of time to fully ripen. The nose shows immediate mulberry, blackberry, cassis and raspberry while the background shows sweet tobacco-leaf, leather, mocha, panchetta and cardamom. This wine is extremely perfumey and elegant, yet rich, bold and powerful. The palate shows real finesse combined with rich, round and apparent tannins giving this wine immense structure and agebility. The balance of red and black fruits with smoked-meat, leather and tobacco surrounded by flavourful spices really elevates Niagara Cabernet Franc to the heights we think it deserves. This will easily age for the next 8-10 years. If you drink it now, try it with hard cheeses like a well aged Cheddar, Parmigiano Reggiano, and Pecorino Romano or with roasted red meat.

Winemaking Notes

The grapes were hand-picked and hand-sorted on October 29th, destemmed and left to cold soak on skins prior to fermentation. The fermentation started spontaneously in small open-top fermenters with the skins being punched-down by hand 2 times per day. Once fermentation was finished, the wine remained on skins for 6 days before being gently pressed. It was then transferred to French and American oak barrels (40% new) and aged for 20 months. The 2018 Cabernet Franc was bottled on September 10, 2020.