The last of the Cave Spring wine tasted on my recent trip to St. Davids Ontario was at their airy newly opened tasting room in Beamsville, Ontario. Apparently it is where the more serious wine crowd shows up including wine writers. It is bright and airy with lots of glass and great vistas of vineyards.
The Cave Spring 2020 Cabernet Franc Dolomite presents with a warm creaminess perhaps the result of the new 15% French oak. Absolutely hopping with black cherry and blackberry with some vanilla and Lowney’s chocolate covered cherry. Interesting as you don’t often encounter blackberry with Ontario Cabernet Franc.
On the palate there is more tannin than one might expect with a Cabernet Franc and I say this without a frown. Again a slight difference as most Ontario Cabernet Francs while well made are not heavy hitters. This Cabernet Franc is big boned for sure but not massively so. We can label this a medium bodied wine. There is raspberry, strawberry and red cherry as well and with a little torrent of sour cherry tinged with pepper. The finish is broad and long.
The wine should be decanted to loosen up its tight leg muscles. It needs a couple of years to reach its stride and will coast after that until 2007 nicely.
The winery suggests food matches of roast fowl, mild sausages, roast duck, grilled steak, beef short ribs, vegetable lasagna and grilled portobello mushrooms. I won’t quibble with that although I am not so sure about duck and fowl but again it depends on how those dishes are prepared! For example Greek roasted chicken with potatoes in a lemon oregano sauce would kill this wine but a roast chicken with a beer, paprika and cinnamon rub might work very well.
“Dolomite” refers to the type of limestone that forms the crest of the Niagara Escarpment.
Overall more complicated than most Lake Erie North Shore and Niagara Cabernet Francs. It sells for $27.95 either at the winery/tasting room or online. It can be purchased in Europe and the United Sates through certain distributors. Check the website for distribution details at https://cavespring.ca/
(Cave Spring 2020 Dolomite Cabernet Franc, VQA Beamsville Bench, Cave Spring, Jordon, Ontario, $27.95, 750 mL, 14.5%, RKS Wine Rating 90/100).
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