30 Days of Local Wine – Day Twenty-three: Pelee Island Winery, 2008 Cabernet Franc (VQA)

This supple yet lively red wine boasts an intriguing mix of currant and blueberry with hints of cedar. These flavours are enhanced by tannins that remain throughout the finish.

These are picked early in the day in mid-October when they have reached 20.2 brix, and arrive at the winery within hours of picking. The grapes are destemmed, crushed and fed into a rotor fermenting tank. Maturation temperature for this wine is controlled at 26 degrees Celsius.

The key to the intense flavours and spicy aromas are the mature grapes and modern technology. This modern piece of technology allows for strict temperature control during fermentation; its gentle agitation of the wine extracts more colour and tannin from the skins; and the partial pressure this vessel is under during the time of fermentation allows higher concentration of fruit flavours to remain in the wine. Finally, this wine undergoes malolactic fermentation in the barrel room, which stabilizes its red colour and enhances its firm tannic finish.

“This is a nice big red wine. Darker in colour than other local Cab Francs, with a nice nose full of green peppers, spices, and plums” explains Gary Killops of EssexWineReview.com.

This Cabernet Franc is best served with pasta or red sauce, barbecued foods, roast beef or lamb.

The label on this Cabernet Franc features the Five-lined Skink, the only lizard found on Pelee Island. It is occasionally referred to as the “Blue-tailed Skink” because of the characteristic blue tail of the young.

Now in case you have forgot, tomorrow is Christmas Eve. We encourage everyone, if you haven’t already, to head out to the local wineries today with a list of your favourites from the 30 Days of Local Wine so far and purchase some bottles of great local wine for your holiday dinner!

Related posts:

1. 30 Days of Local Wine – Day Five: Pelee Island Winery, 2008 Pelee Girl’s Cabernet Merlot (VQA)
2. 30 Days of Local Wine – Day Twenty-five: Sprucewood Shores Estate Winery, 2007 Cabernet Franc
3. 30 Days of Local Wine – Day Sixteen: Mastronardi Estate Winery, 2007 Cabernet Franc (VQA)
4. 30 Days of Local Wine – Day Twenty Six: Colchester Ridge Estate Winery, 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon (VQA)
5. 30 Days of Local Wine – Day Seventeen: Pelee Island Winery, 2008 Pinot Grigio (VQA)