Thirty Bench, Small Lot Cabernet Franc, Beamsville Bench

Composite cork. Pnp. Medium dark faded maroon. Already showing some age. Black and blue fruits, anise, pencil lead on the nose. Medium bodied, high (bordering on too high) acid, fine tannins, dry finish. Tart black fruit, pencil lead, tree bark, brown earth on the palate. The fruit feels ripe, as do the tannins, but the acid throws it out of balance and into the unpleasant zone. Recently Thirty Bench has been flirting with higher and higher acid and this time …

Last edit of TN blipped out by the internet and not rewriting it. Straightforward but pleasant wine. No excess pyrazines or greenness. Richer than I expected. Price tag is pretty high for what it is, reflecting the difficulty of making cab franc this far north. Score: 89. Relative to expectations: +

Niagara 2023 Cellar Door Visits : Herbs, redcurrant, blackberry, ash and cocoa. The palate is smoky and savory with present but not dominant herbs, finishing with mid length.

Thought that this might be past its best. Wrong! Decanted and tried immediately at room temperature. Dark opaque ruby colour: blackberry and tobacco aromas. Moderate tannins and generally merlot-like in smoothness; flavours paralleled the initial nose impression; moderately long finish. Improved even more after 1-2 hrs. Altogether a very pleasant wine experience. Pleased that I have another bottle in the basement. JH

Yummy, too bad it was my last bottle. :( Quite smooth great with the pasta dinner.

Wow, powerful aromatics right after opening. Cherry, berries, floral, tea, sweet spice, great complexity. Some earth too. Med-full bodied with moderate tannin and acidity. Great balance and drinking really well now. Palate is remarkably close to nose. Very long finish. This is a fantastic wine and we both loved it.

Opened this bottle for New Years Eve dinner. It was great! It was loaded with berries and complexity. I need to get back to this winery and try and get more as I am interested what it would taste like in the next couple of years.

LotS of fruit and spice. Needs time to soften