Black Bank Hill Estate Vineyard Cabernet Franc 2020

VQA Lincoln Lakeshore, Ontario $40.00 13.0% alcohol

I love Ontario cabernet franc and this one scores high on my deliciousness scale. Starting with the gorgeous nose of jalapeño mingling with ripe sweet black cherry, star anise, pipe tobacco, violet and the list goes on. There’s an excellent fruit concentration here—black cherry, purple plum—followed by the peppery/savoury character that gives so much complexity to this medium-full-bodied beauty matured 20 months in used French oak barrels. Expect powdery tannin astringency in the lovely peppery finish, perfect for a rare flank steak on the grill. This has room for further bottle maturation but is certainly hard to resist now. Aerate/decant one hour before dinner time. (Louise Boutin)