Sue-Ann Staff Estate Winery only ships products within Canada.
The Gritstone Cabernet, 2020
Shipped and sold by Sue-Ann Staff Estate Winery
Our Gritstone Cabernet is named for a very special stone. Near the wine shop entrance, you'll find a Gritstone leaning against a tree. This rare, one piece gritstone is original to the family estate. The Staff family once had a gristmill near the pond, powered by the 16 Mile Creek, to mill grain into flour. The stone's enviable strength and longevity speaks to the wine named for it.
Vinification: 2020 was one of the warmest and driest vintages on record, creating fruit with high extract and colour. After a 3 week long ferment and maceration wine was pressed and left to settle before being put into French and American Oak barrels for 14 months. It was filtered and bottled in early 2024.
Tasting Notes: Cedar, black currant, and cherry are the main contributors to the nose on this rich, red wine. On the palate, the fresh fruit notes are bright and easily discernible, with vanilla, cassis and tannin coming together to produce a complex, medium-bodied red.
Serving Suggestions: Wonderful with crumbly aged Cheddar or nutty Parmesan; black olive tapenade; pasta alla puttanesca; grilled or roasted lamb, beef and pork; dark chocolate mousse, especially with a concentrated berry sauce.
Residual Sugar: 2.9 g/L
Critic's Rating
2024 All Canadian Wine Championships, Silver
The 2020 vintage was a featured wine in July 2024's Wine Club packages.
Tasting notes written by Tony Aspler.
Geographical Indication: VQA Vinemount Ridge
Vineyard: Estate vineyard
Residual Sugar: 2.9 g/L
Cases Produced: 200
Appearance: Ruby-purple colour.
Nose: Cedary, blackcurrant bouquet with a light floral note.
Palate: Medium-bodied, dry, earthy, red and blackcurrant flavours with evident but ripe cocoa powder tannins. Firmly structured.
Quality: 88 – 90 points – Wine Club Canada. Very Good+ / Outstanding. Hold 1 –2 years.
Food Pairing: Sausages with polenta and tapenade, herbed farrotto, Moroccan beef stew, grouper in puttanesca sauce, and Aleppo pepper chicken thighs.
From the winemaker: Our Gritstone Cabernet is named for a very special stone. Near the wine shop entrance, you'll find a Gritstone leaning against a tree. This rare, one piece gritstone is original to the family estate. The Staff family once had a gristmill near the pond, powered by the 16 Mile Creek, to mill grain into flour. The stone's enviable strength and longevity speaks to the wine named for it.
