Blend: 100% Cabernet Franc
Analysis:
Alcohol: 14% | PH: 3.746| Titratable acidity: 5.87 g/L
Bottling Date: August 2022
Cellaring: 5+ years
Tasting Notes:
An elegant, complex and textural Cabernet Franc. It features aromas of violets, blueberry, blackberry and black plum with notes of shortbread, lavender, coffee and dark chocolate. The medium-bodied palate is intense and fresh with silky tannins. It is structured to age with complex notes of dried thyme, plum, raspberry, dried mixed berries, pie crust, licorice and paprika on the long finish. Pair with a red wine braised rabbit or quail, Annatto rubbed grilled flank steak or cumin and paprika flavoured braised vegetables.
Rhys Pender, Master of Wine
Wine Making:
The 2020 growing season was a rather average one characterized by certain weather events. Spring’s arrival was delayed, followed by bouts of rain in late May and early June which led to slightly lower yields and resultingly high-quality grapes. August added ideal summer heat, ripening the grapes slowly which extended into September. Sunny, clear skies in the fall helped make up for the late start to the season and benefited flavour development in the grapes while cool nights helped retain acidity.
Our Cabernet Franc grapes were harvested by hand from Burrowing Owl’s vineyards in Oliver and Osoyoos throughout October, on the 7th, 21st and 22nd. They were destemmed and gently crushed before being gravity fed into stainless steel tanks for skin maceration and alcoholic fermentation with temperatures ranging from 16 to 30 °C. Both free-run and pressed wine were then moved into barrels for malolactic fermentation followed by 18 months of ageing. The selection of barrels helped round out the tannins in this spectacularly ripe and full-flavoured Cabernet Franc and contributed to complex savory and spice notes. After the blending of the barrels, the wine was bottled and left to mature until its release.
