Tasting Note– Over the years Colin Stanners has had notable success with this juicy, fragrant “Loire” style of County cabernet franc. It pours fairly deep, luminous ruby purple. The nose is lifted with cran-raspberry, blueberry fruit, violet, modest oak, toasted herbs/tobacco and a touch of meatiness that I like and adds complexity. It is light to medium bodied, quite smooth and silky with very fine tannin. Yet there is a core of vibrant, sour-edged, energizing acidity as well. With some minerality on the finish. The length is excellent.  Chill lightly and enjoy over the next five years.

Backgrounder –  In 2003 retired McGill University professor and amateur winemaker Cliff Stanners and his wife Dorothy purchased a field in Hillier. In 2005 they began high-density planting.  Their son, Colin, who had studied oenology at UC Davis in California, and daughter-in- law, Mary, joined the team. In 2009 they began building a clever straw-bale winery, and it opened in 2010. The grapes for this Cabernet Franc are from The Devil’s Wishbone vineyard near Picton. They were destemmed with no crushing, then cold soaked and fermented as whole berries for 26 days to help extract fruit flavours while not extracting too much tannin. The wine was then aged in older French oak barrels for 17 months and was not fined or filtered.