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Tawse David's Block Cabernet Franc 2019

Canada, Ontario
95 JG 95 Points (Wineanorak (Jamie Goode))

David’s Block is our oldest estate planting of Cabernet Franc. The organic block was planted in 1998 and produces a low yielding crop; only 8 barrels were produced of this exclusive wine. This Cabernet Franc was aged for 18 months in French oak and displays expressive notes of blueberry, cocoa and tobacco. Enjoy now through 2034.

Country Canada
Province Ontario
Region Niagara Peninsula
Producer Tawse Winery
Vintage 2019
Color Red Wine
Varietal(s) Cabernet Franc
¥7,150  (incl. tax)

David’s Block is our oldest estate planting of Cabernet Franc. The organic block was planted in 1998 and produces a low yielding crop; only 8 barrels were produced of this exclusive wine. This Cabernet Franc was aged for 18 months in French oak and displays expressive notes of blueberry, cocoa and tobacco. Enjoy now through 2034.

Country Canada
Province Ontario
Region Niagara Peninsula
Producer Tawse Winery
Vintage 2019
Color Red Wine
Varietal(s) Cabernet Franc
Data
Closure Cork
Volume 750ml
Alcohol 14%
Product Code A001R01119
UPC 670459011102
Inventory In Stock (21)
Owning & Enjoying

Tasting notes

A showcase Cabernet Franc from one of the oldest plantings in Niagara.  This vineyard routinely produces a wine that attracts international acclaim.  Only about 1000 bottles produced each year!

David’s Block is our oldest estate planting of Cabernet Franc. The organic block was planted in 1998 and produces a low yielding crop; only 8 barrels were produced of this exclusive wine. This Cabernet Franc was aged for 18 months in French oak and displays expressive notes of blueberry, cocoa and tobacco. Enjoy now through 2034.

Pairing

This Cabernet Franc pairs beautifully with roast beef au jus, with slow roasted vegetables, or skip right to dessert with a dark chocolate mousse sprinkled with sea salt.

Cellaring

Enjoy now to 2034 and beyond!

Press
95Wineanorak (Jamie Goode)
This is remarkable. It’s supple and perfumed with lovely black cherry and blackberry fruit, showing good acidity and texture. There’s a slight chalky edge here with nice grippy structure, but the star of the show is the bright, well-proportioned fruit. Such finesse here: very fine. 
Production

Appellation

VQA Twenty Mile Bench

Vinification

David’s Block is our oldest estate planting of Cabernet Franc. The organic block was planted in 1998 and produces a low yielding crop; only 8 barrels were produced of this exclusive wine. This Cabernet Franc was aged for 18 months in French oak and displays expressive notes of blueberry, cocoa and tobacco. Enjoy now through 2034.

Producer

Producer Description

Situated on the lower slopes of the Niagara Escarpment, Tawse is a family-owned organic winery. A life-long lover of wine, Burgundy in particular, founder Moray Tawse purchased the Cherry Avenue property in 2001 after realizing the great potential of the Niagara Escarpment as a word-class cool-climate wine region. In 2005, he opened his state-of-the-art winery in Vineland, complete with a six-level, gravity-flow design, geo-thermal system and a wetland bio-filter.

The inspiration for Moray’s eponymous Niagara property came from his love of Burgundian Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. Uniting traditional winemaking techniques with state-of-the-art technology, Tawse and the award-winning winemaking team of Paul Pender and Rene Van Ede, is dedicated to producing terroir-driven wines of exceptional elegance, depth and character.

At Tawse, winemaking begins in the vineyards. We proudly apply rigorous organic methods to every aspect of our production from grape-growing to winemaking and Ecocert seals appear on all wines made from our estate fruit.

Today, having acquired over 200 acres (5 vineyards) and being named Canadian Winery of the year in 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2016, Tawse Winery now produces 30,000 cases of wine and has one of the largest portfolios of organic wines in the Niagara region.

Viticulture

ViticultureAt Tawse, winemaking begins in the vineyards. Healthy vines yield quality fruit which allows us to craft terroir-driven wines of great elegance, depth and character. Promoting the health of our vines and vineyards requires a labour-intensive and hands-on approach. We tuck and thin the shoots by hand to increase sun exposure and air flow. We keep the yields low by cluster-thinning to ensure that all the energy of the vine is focused to ripen fewer higher-quality grape clusters. Our grapes are harvested at optimal ripeness and sorted to select the very best fruit. We also proudly practice organic farming.

Organic Farming

Organic farming feeds the vines and controls diseases without the use of synthetic insecticides, fungicides and fertilizers. We strive to create a diversified balanced ecosystem that generates health and fertility from the vineyard itself. Healthy vines mean less need for outside substances to control diseases and promote growth. By being present in the vineyard, we are able to anticipate and prevent issues. We also get help from our friends from the animal realm, chickens feed on bugs, our sheep eat the lower vine leaves to expose the grapes to the ripening sun.

Winemaking

Our grapes are harvested at optimal ripeness and sorted. Our reds are de-stemmed before pressing and our whites are gently whole cluster pressed to avoid the bitter characteristics from the stems, skins and seeds. Aromatic whites are fermented in stainless steel.  We barrel-ferment our Chardonnay in French oak using wild yeast. All our reds are fermented in oak fermenters and then aged in French oak from 12 to 18 months depending on the varietal

Environmental Responsibility

The architecture of our winery was carefully conceived to be environmentally-friendly. Our 6-level design allows us to use gravity as much as possible to gently move the wine as is processed, from pressing to cellaring. Our Chardonnay and our reds are aged in underground barrel cellars covered by 6 to 8 feet of earth, which keeps the ambient temperature between 10 and 16 degrees Celsius, with a natural humidity of approximately 85%. This relatively stable temperature and high humidity allows our wines to age gracefully with a minimum amount of evaporation. Our modern geo-thermal energy system has reduced our use of traditional forms of energy by 80%. We also have a wetland bio-filter which allows us to re-use of all our sanitary and winery process water.

The Team

Paul Pender - Director of Viticulture and Winemaking

Paul Pender joined the Tawse team in 2005 and became head winemaker in 2006. Under his leadership, Tawse achieved Ecocert organic and Demeter biodynamic certification and was named Canadian Winery of the year in 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2016. He earned the title of Winemaker of the Year at the Ontario Wine Awards in 2011.

Former carpenter and graduate of Niagara College’s Winery and Viticulture program, Paul adopts a “non-interventionist as far as possible” philosophy. He is a firm believer that the start of every great wine begins in the vineyard and he is passionate about crafting wines that express a sense of place.

 

 


Jessica Otting - Winemaker

Jess has been enthralled by the world of wine since a very young age; at seventeen she completed her first vintage for her high school placement. After graduating from Niagara College’s Winery & VIticulture program in 2011, Jess took her skills abroad where she took part in a harvest in South Australia and in Tasmania the following year, with a Canadian vintage in between for good measure. Her passion for cool climate wines brought her back to Niagara, and it was not long before she joined the Tawse team to perform all of the laboratory analysis required to make delicious Bench wines.

After working closely with the winemakers for over four years, Jess took on the Assistant Winemaker role in 2018, and shortly after became Distiller as part of the team that pioneered the new spirits program at Tawse. 2020 brought about more big changes, as she earned the role of Winemaker for Tawse Winery.

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