Tuesday, August 28, 2007

Chateau des Charmes 2005 St. David’s Bench Cabernet Franc - $25.00

It’s not like I’ve hidden it over the years, Cabernet Franc is truly one of my favorite grapes and I think we Ontarians make it better than anyone. So when I saw this Chateau des Charmes St. David's Franc on the shelves at the winery, I knew I just had to try it. I can tell you right now that it's not ready to drink, unless you like chewing your wine, but if you decant this wine it will drink wonderfully right now, or you can bottle age it for another five years and drink up to ten years hence, maybe longer. But why wait, let's try it now. The nose speaks to the weight of the wine with black fruit, pepper and piles of oak. In the mouth, you'll find some black fruit interwoven with dry tannin, heavy oak and a dusty, drying, sawdusty finish. Decant or lie down, but don’t try to tackle this one on its own quite yet. This was released at the same time as the ‘05 St. David's Cabernet Sauvignon (see review) and comparatively this one is definitely the heavier and meatier wine of the two.


No comments: