Wine Profile
Tasting Notes
Bold yet approachable, our Foundation Series Select Vineyards Cabernet Merlot shows enticing aromas of clove, sandalwood, sage and blackberry. These lead to a full palate of ripe black fruit, roasted espresso, and light vanilla tones, ending with a round and pleasingly long finish. A robust red that is a great companion for grilled foods, enjoy with BBQ pork chops, smoked ribs or try a lentil sauté.
Vineyard Notes
The 2021 growing season in the South Okanagan was one for the history books as the driest on record, due in large part to the “Heat Dome” and its record breaking high temperatures. It was also one of the warmest years, seeing the most growing degree days GDD (1758) since 2015. Following flowering, we experienced an extremely dry and hot June during fruit set. The heat led to a lighter fruit set and smaller berry size than usual. While there was less fruit per vine and the yield was light in volume, on the upside the smaller berries in the clusters resulted in more concentrated flavours and colours on the red varietals. Similarly, for the white varietals there are intense flavours and vibrant aromatics. With the warm dry season, the grapes reached phenolic ripeness earlier than usual with harvest commencing and finishing early. We began picking the whites on August 27th for our Ti Amo (Prosecco-style sparkling wine). We started picking our first reds in mid-September with our block 10 Merlot on September 14th at our historic Golden Mile Bench estate vineyard. We finished our last estate reds pick with Cabernet Sauvignon from block 8 of our Golden Mile Bench vineyard on October 28, 2021. Overall, the 2021 harvest produced wines of outstanding quality and varietal character. We expect to see some intense, fruit driven wines, with excellent depth of flavour.
Winemaker Notes
An enticing Bordeaux style wine, this vintage is made with handpicked grapes from our estate vineyard along with select farms south of Oliver and in Osoyoos. Approximately 2/3 Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon and 1/3 Merlot, the Merlot was harvested first, this year in late September, with the Cabernet varietals picked last in late October and early November. The Cabernet Sauvignon provides a solid framework, the Cabernet Franc contributes the structure and elegance, and the Merlot adds a nice roundness to the blend. All the fruit was hand-picked, meticulously sorted, destemmed and fermented on the skins. After a gentle pressing and malolactic fermentation the lots were blended and then spent an additional 8 months aging on fine lees with 75% in French oak and 25% American oak.
