2020 Gritstone Cabernet

Our Gritstone Cabernet is named for a very special stone. Near the wine shop entrance, you'll find a Gritstone leaning against a tree. This rare, one-piece gritstone is original to the family estate. The Staff family once had a gristmill near the pond, powered by the 16 Mile Creek, to mill grain into flour. The stone's enviable strength and longevity speaks to the wine named for it.

SILVER, All Canadian Wine Championships 2024

Vinification: 2020 was one of the warmest and driest vintages on record, creating fruit with high extract and colour. After a 3-week ferment and maceration, the wine was pressed and left to settle before being put into French and American oak barrels for 14 months. It was filtered and bottled in early 2024.

Tasting notes: Cedar, black currant, and cherry are the main contributors to the nose on this rich red wine. On the palate, the fresh fruit notes are bright and easily discernible, with vanilla, cassis and tannin coming together to produce a complex, medium-bodied red.

Serving suggestions: Wonderful with crumbly aged Cheddar or nutty Parmesan; black olive tapenade; pasta alla puttanesca; grilled or roasted lamb, beef and pork; dark chocolate mousse, especially with a concentrated berry sauce.

• Harvest Date: Oct 25, 2020
• Blend: 100% Cabernet Franc
• Alcohol: 13.5%
• Residual Sugar: 2.9 g/L
• Titratable Acidity: 6.73 g/L
• pH: 3.68
• Cases Produced: 200 cases

Ruby-purple colour; cedary, blackcurrant bouquet with a light floral note; medium-bodied, dry, earthy, red and blackcurrant flavours with evident but ripe cocoa powder tannins. Firmly structured. 88–90 pts, Tony Aspler