Golly gee on a bottle of Kacaba 2019 Cabernet Franc I see a sticker at the top of the front label indicating the wine has won a bronze medal in Wine Align National Wine Awards (2022) of Canada! I am assured of excellence with this impressive sticker which most likely had to be paid for to be affixed to the bottle. So what if there is an entry fee for each wine etc. Wine awards are business and not a charity. Pay to play i.e. entrance fees? I recall years ago discussing these “wine awards” with a producer in Ontario’s Lake Erie North Shore saying they didn’t want to waste their money participating in these wine award “competitions”. In some of these “competitions” one can be assured of walking away with some medal which entitles you to pay a fee to purchase “medal winning stickers” for placement on your bottles to snag the eyes of hurried consumers (hopefully) having no idea about the profit-making nature of some wine awards. The Midas principle.
Bear in mind multiple wines can win medals in the same medal category if they are within a score range.
So what can this Bronze Baby offer?
Aroma: Typical of a Niagara Cabernet Franc or perhaps even an Ontario one with black cherry, black raspberry, chocolate covered cherries and milk chocolate. Smidge of cranberry. Promises a lighter and more nuanced red wine.
Palate: Light-footed with no cavalry charging at you. Raspberry, Ginja d’o Óbidos and somewhat of a short juicy black cherry finish. Tannins are (unlike Joe B.) about ready to retire in Clearwater, Florida. Acids shoved in the cheap seats where they sit silently unlike Republicans at SOTU!
Personality: Consider me a welcome break from so much “heavier” red wine on the market.
Food Match: If like your Tomahawk Steak rare and feel like a beast when consuming it this is not your wine. But where it would excel is with Bachalau at least with the dozen or so I have tried in the Douro. There are at least 350 more recipes I haven’t tried.
Cellarbility: Nada. Drink by August 12, 2025 at 17:32. No. I am not one of those, “Do as I say” type of writers.
Price: $33.15 CDN (Ontario).
Comments from the peanut gallery: Just a bit more fruit on the finish and we would be drinking GOLD MEDAL WINE! But wait the wine may have won quadruple platinum medals elsewhere Details to follow.
RKS 2024 Wine Rating: 89/100. Rick VanSickle 92.
(Kacaba 2019 Cabernet Franc, VQA Niagara Escarpment, Kacaba Vineyards, Vineland, Ontario, 750 mL, 13%).
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