The “Riserva Famiglia” title is only given to wines produced in the best vintage years which have passed a rigorous tasting panel. Made in the traditional appassimento style, vine dried for 4 weeks past traditional harvest dates and then rack dried in a single layer for 26 days. Dried in an ambient environment with forced air circulation to allow the fruit to slowly dry. Small batch fermented and aged in french oak for 2 years.

The 2016 Vintage was extremely hot with little rainfall and lots of sunshine. To protect the grapes, we left foliage on the vines providing extensive canopy. The soil was able to hold moisture through the season to ensure the vines remained healthy in the heat, producing a crop balanced in sugars, water and acidity- a known Niagara trait.

Our latest vintage of Appassimento Cabernet Franc is as bold and delicious as ever. The nose is very intense, with ripe aromas of black plum, blueberry, black pepper, strawberry jam, eucalyptus, tobacco, kirsch, vanilla, charred wood, and dark chocolate that provide excellent varietal character. On the palate, it mirrors the flavours and intensity of the nose while being rich and full bodied. Although tannins are still youthful and will soften beautifully with age, its still approachable at this stage thanks to a solid backbone of acidity that keeps it fresh and helps to integrate the higher alcohol. Given all the intensity and complexity going on here, you’ll want to full-bottle decant this wine and pair it with hearty foods. If you’ve ever found cool climate wines to be a little too light, then this is definitely the wine for you.

Technical Information

Appellation: VQA Niagara-on-the-Lake

Blend: 100% Cabernet Franc

Aging: 2 years in new French oak barriques

Brix after drying: 27.8

Alcohol: 16.0%alc./vol.

Residual sugar: 3.1g/L

750ml bottle | Red Wine, Vin Rouge