|
|
Wine Recommendation
Blackwood Lane Vineyards & Winery
2005 Cabernet Franc, Inkameep Vineyard(Okanagan Valley)
For several years, Blackwood Lane co-owner and winemaker Charles Herrold has been buying grapes from a parcel at the Inkameep Vineyard known as Z Block. Established in 1968 and owned by the Osoyoos Indian Band, Inkameep is one of the oldest producers of vinifera grapes in the south Okanagan. Currently, the vineyard, about 200 acres in size, sells grapes to 13 wineries, although a long-term contract for most of the grapes is being negotiated with Vincor Canada. By the time that takes effect, Herrold hopes to find comparable sources of premium Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc.
This rich, sumptuous wine reveals that Cabernet Franc reaches optimal ripeness at Z Block. This wine has a hint of the spicy, vegetative aroma of the variety, glowing faintly amid aromas of plum, chocolate and vanilla (the wine spent 16 months in French oak). On the palate, there are flavours of black cherry, red currants, white pepper, with anise and chocolate on the finish. Only 90 cases have been released. 88 points.
Reviewed August 2, 2007 by John Schreiner.
Other reviewed wines from Blackwood Lane Vineyards & Winery
The Wine
Winery: Blackwood Lane Vineyards & Winery |
The Reviewer
John Schreiner
John Schreiner has been covering the wines of British Columbia for the past 30 years and has written 10 books on the wines of Canada and BC. He has judged at major competitions and is currently a panel member for the Lieutenant Governor’s Awards of Excellence in Wine. Both as a judge and as a wine critic, he approaches each wine not to find fault, but to find excellence. That he now finds the latter more often than the former testifies to the dramatic improvement shown by BC winemaking in the past decade. |