Cabernet Franc success in Niagara
And the world is beginning to take notice
At the beginning of May, I was fortunate enough to attend the 29th annual Experts Tasting put on by the Cool Climate Oenology and Viticulture Institute at Brock University.
My second time attending, it’s something I look forward to because we get to sample some outstanding wines but also something that sets the butterflies free in my stomach as the final flight challenges those in attendance on their knowledge and wine-tasting skills.
And this year, the focus was to be Cabernet Franc with a homage to the Tragically Hip.
Before I go any further, there is one item I must clear up from my last column.
I tasted and spoke about Edgewater Riesling from DIM Wine Co., and it wasn’t long before I took a little bit of ribbing from friends and my spouse over the dead-end.
Permit me to elaborate on “with food”. Wine like Edgewater pairs well with spicy dishes, chicken and shrimp or crab. It’s quite versatile with a variety of foods, which is what I meant. There you go.
Back to the tasting.
A series of four flights, with names such as Fully and Completely Vertical and ’15 Mission Cab, we sipped and spit through nearly 30 wines with vintages between 2013 and 2016 mostly from the Niagara region but also from Chinon in France.
My thoughts are that Niagara winemakers are doing amazing things with this varietal.
Most interesting was the third flight called “Courage!” that highlighted all seven wines from Cave Spring Cellars and the hands of winemaker Angelo Pavan.
Pavan, as the keynote speaker alluded to the importance of Cabernet Franc to the region, praising its tolerance to cold and its consistency.
“The versatility of Cab Franc, you can do so much with it,” said Pavan.
“Besides a table wine you can make a great Rose, Icewine and then what some of us do is appassimento, in our experience at Cave Spring Cab Franc works the best.”
He said the region’s grape growers know the clones that work best and now have a lot of viticultural experience working with these varieties.
Many times he has been told the wines are holding up well, explaining that along with Riesling, the cab franc is one of the most ageable of the vinifera grown in Niagara.
“With the wine regions of the world expanding, there are so many varieties, and we’re fortunate we do Chardonnay well, Riesling well, so it’s easy for us to get recognition internationally.”
“Cabernet Franc has been interesting because there is no wine region in the world that I know of that has Cabernet Franc as a varietal,” said Pavan. “You have right bank Bordeaux, Loire Valley, Chinon in France, lots.”
Pavan sees it as an opportunity in a huge market.
With 30 years of VQA now is the time to present our story to customers, he said.
“The way we should look at is we now know what we can do well, how can we improve on it, and do it better. It’s how we can be successful not just in our market but internationally?
“If you were to ask me if there was one variety to work with, especially with our site, it’s Cabernet Franc, no question.”
And it seems that the world is beginning to notice.
This past week Decanter magazine, a reference for many a wine lover, heaped praise upon the 2015 Cabernet Franc from Thirty Bench Wines awarding it one of the Best in Show medals at the Decanter World Wine Awards 2018.
According to their website, only 0.3 per cent of the more than 16,000 wines tasted receive the highest recognition.
In fact, the article said the success “added more evidence that wine lovers should be taking note of what is happening in Canada.”
Farmed organically, the grapes are hand-picked from the most northern section of the Thirty Bench vineyard, before spending 20 months in mostly French oak barrels.
Some winemakers have described the 2015 vintage as the “sleeper” year but being quite young I expected some distinct tanins and very fresh fruit.
I was pleasantly surprised by the aromatic nose, with dark fruit giving a hint of the wine to come. Dark purple in colour and opaque, the palate shows lovely dark fruit, black cherry in harmony with the light oak touch. No signs of greenness, it is fullbodied and supple.
With some decanting, it is a pleasure to drink now and will age well if you can keep your hands off it.
Available in limited quantities at the winery.