Tawse Growers Blend Cabernet Franc 2020

The excellent 2020 vintage in Niagara has been very kind to cabernet franc, a category that has done well at the National Wine Awards of Canada. This finds very good varietal purity and balance. The nose is fairly generous with raspberry and redcurrant fruit, fresh herbs and oak resin and spice. It it is mid-weight, balanced and warming with firm but not austere tannin. With some age better cohesion and elegance is setting in. There is a sense of fine proportion and completeness. The length is excellent. Sept 2024. Re-tasted in Sept 2025 this is showing a year of bottle age with the onset of some leather and graphite amid the ripe, almost jammy raspberry fruit and wood spice. It feels more plush and open knit, and just a bit softer than as described above. This is a Niagara classic in a warmer vintage. Best now to 2028. Score – 91. (David Lawrason, winealign.com)