Southbrook, 2020 Cab Franc, Saunders Vineyard VQA Beamsville Bench, Canada | Cab Franc Chronicles

Описание: Cab Franc Chronicles - Your source for all things Cabernet Franc!

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Analysis and commentary of the Southbrook Vineyards, 2020 Saunders Family Vineyard Cabernet Franc, VQA Beamsville Bench, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario, Canada

Since producing their first 2000 cases in 1991, Southbrook Vineyards has established themselves as one of Ontario's premier fine wine producers. After Bill Redelmeier purchased land in Niagara-on-the-Lake in 2005 to establish their vineyards and winery, Southbrook quickly affirmed its position in the industry as a leader in green and sustainable initiatives, being the first in Canada to receive organic and biodynamic certification for their vineyards and winery.

Supported by renowned Ontario winemaker Ann Sperling, Director of Winemaking and Viticulture, and Casey Hogan as winemaker, today, Southbrook farms 60 acres of vineyards, and sources from a few select, like-minded growers, to producer their wines. It total their working with about 8 acres of Cabernet Franc to producer their rosé, and several single-varietal reds.

Saunders Vineyard Cabernet Franc, which is located in the Beamsville Bench VQA sub-appellation, which is one of three sub-appellations that fall under the Niagara Escarpment regional appellation, the others being the Twenty Mile Bench, the Short Hills Bench.

The Niagara Escarpment, along with Lake Ontario, is one of the geographical features that make viticulture in the Niagara Peninsula possible. The escarpment is a ridge rises to a height of nearly 200m and helps to trap as well as circulate airflow from off the lake into the vineyards, which helps to reduce disease pressure and frost risk, and also increases the overall vineyard temperatures, helping to prolong the growing season and aid ripening.

The escarpment is comprised of layers of sedimentary rocks - predominantly dolostone, dolomitic limestones, shales and sandstones. How hard these rocks are, or how susceptible or resistant to erosion they are, has shaped the topography of the Niagara Escarpment during the glacial events of the last 2 million years. Over time these sedimentary rocks eroded away to form the terraces, or benches, which now make up the vineyard areas of the Niagara Escarpment.

These wide, north-facing terraces make up the larger Lake Iroquois Bench, and the Beamsville Bench is located on the Bell Terrace, which is the first or lowest terraces on the escarpment.

In terms of the microclimate, the Beamsville Bench is the furthest west of these benches, but it is also closest to Lake Ontario. It receives a stronger moderating influence from Lake Ontario, making it cooler overall during the growing season, but it also it extends the growing season slightly, giving it an advantage in terms of growing degree days, at 1588, which is helpful for ripening later season red varieties like Cabernet Franc.

The Saunders Vineyard is located in the western part of Beamsville Bench, less than 4km south of the shoreline of Lake Ontario, on a gentle north-facing slope at an average elevation of about 123m above sea level. There are two blocks of Cabernet Franc totalling about 1.2 acres, so just a little under a half a hectare, one planted in 1999 and the other in 2000. In terms of soil, it is a mix of red and olive green coloured clay-loam glacial till, with lacustrine and dolomitic limestone sediments. The vineyard is farmed certified organic, and they are employing regenerative farming practices as well. Southbrook has been working with the Saunders family to source grapes for single-vineyard wines since 2012.

In terms of winemaking, the yield off the block in 2020 was around 1.5 tons per acre. The fruit was hand-harvested and entirely destemmed. The fermentation was in one tonne bins, using indigenous yeast, with the fermentation temperature reaching a maximum of 30C. The total time on skins was about 22 days, with some punch downs once or twice per day during peak fermentation. The wine was aged for about 18 months in barriques, 5 barrels in total, and 2 of these were new, followed by blending and minimal filtration before bottling.

0:00 Intro
1:13 Southbrook vineyards and wines
2:37 Niagara Escarpment overview
3:28 Niagara Escarpment geology
4:25 Beamsville Bench - overview and microclimate
6:26 Saunders Family Vineyard details
7:21 Winemaking
8:11 Tasting notes

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Website in progress with a full write up and tons more content.
Originally posted to Instagram December 17, 2023

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Key wine facts below:

Producer: Southbrook Vineyards
Region: Niagara Peninsula (Ontario)
Appellation: VQA Beamsville Bench
Vineyard: Saunders Family Vineyard
Soil: red and green olive-coloured clay-loam till with lacustrine and dolostone sediments
Alcohol: 13.7%

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