WineAlign - Awards - 2018 NWAC Cabernet Franc

Results of the 2018 WineAlign National Wine Awards of Canada (The Nationals)

Cabernet Franc

Intro by Michael Godel

Cabernet Franc quality is a coast to coast matter. If these WineAlign National Wine Awards of Canada are any harbinger, in just one year the British Columbia scene has made huge strides. The aforementioned (in the 2017 intro.) coolest sites are truly responsible for doling out crunchy fresh and energetic cabernet franc with western desert spice notes, namely wild sage and garrigue. We’ve been talking up the crop circles overlapping in Niagara’s Lincoln Lakeshore and Beamsville Bench sites but new results mean we’ve also got to look onto the Peninsula’s flats and some farms delivering magical franc fruit. Over atop the Prince Edward County limestone something of an epiphany is also taking place, as is a stretch of greenery in Nova Scotia’s Gaspereau Valley. Let’s be franc. The first varietal cut is Canada’s deepest.

The Lincoln Lakeshore is without question one of the Niagara Peninsula’s most important cabernet franc havens, a heavy clay construct that begs the vines to send their roots in deep. This year’s Nationals tell us that the flats of the Niagara Peninsula should not be ignored. The oeuvre can certainly be ambitious and by now, an understood and necessary way to render the Niagara Peninsula, if what you’re after is cabernet franc that is big, bold and earthy structured. At Two Sisters the connection between viticulture and winemaker Adam Pearce’s vision must be wholly contiguous, to take fruit from the northern tip of the Niagara River sub-appellation hung long into the late autumn and see it become as rich as cabernet franc can ever become.

The year has delivered an excellent showing for one of Canada’s most important red varietals. The decisions being made as to where to plant this crisp, juicy and crunchy grape are getting better and better. The shared subtleties enjoyed by sites of provincial soils can easily be taken for granted within the common areas, but the lines drawn are getting clearer by the minute. The story of cabernet franc terroir is quickly coming onto focus, quite amazing compared to just five years ago and faster than anyone could have imagined. So, what are we looking for from this signature Canadian grape? To see it produced in what we all feel is the most exciting fresh breath of cabernet franc air.

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Two Sisters 2014 Cabernet Franc, Niagara River, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario

Blind Creek Collective 2016 Cabernet Franc, Similkameen Valley, British Columbia
Bordertown 2015 Cabernet Franc Reserve, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Bordertown 2015 Living Desert Red, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Honsberger 2016 Cabernet Franc Reserve, Creek Shores, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario
Painted Rock 2014 Cabernet Franc, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
River Stone 2016 Cabernet Franc, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Thirty Bench 2015 Small Lot Cabernet Franc Estate Vineyard, Beamsville Bench, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario
Trail Estate 2016 Cabernet Franc Unfiltered Foxcroft Vineyard, Twenty Mile Bench, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario

Blue Sky 2013 Cabernet Franc, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Broken Stone 2016 Cabernet Franc, Four Mile Creek, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario
Fielding 2016 Estate Bottled Cabernet Franc, Lincoln Lakeshore, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario
De Simone 2015 Cabernet Franc, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario
De Simone 2016 Cabernet Franc, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario
Huff Estates 2016 South Bay Vineyards Cabernet Franc, Prince Edward County, Ontario
Inniskillin Okanagan 2015 Cabernet Franc Dark Horse Vineyard, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Redstone 2014 Redstone Vineyard Cabernet Franc, Lincoln Lakeshore, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario
Stanners 2016 Cabernet Franc, Lincoln Lakeshore, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario
Tawse 2013 Cabernet Franc Laundry Vineyard, Lincoln Lakeshore, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario

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