Pearl Morissette, Cabernet Franc 2021 "Racines du Ciel," Niagara Peninsula, Lake Ontario, Ontario, Canada

This Cabernet Franc from the Niagara Peninsula is beautifully balanced, with concentrated ripe blackberries, black cherries, and plums. On the palate it’s structured but silky, with a lingering finish of Balsamic.

COUNTRY: Canada

APPELLATION (AVA): Creek Shores VQA

REGION: Ontario

SUBREGION: Lake Ontario

VINEYARD: Home Farm Vineyard

VINTAGE: 2021

GRAPES: 100% Cabernet Franc

SOIL: Complex glacial soils

PRACTICE: Organic

VINIFICATION: 100% destemmed. Fermented with indigenous yeast in large concrete tanks. Aged in large oak foudres for 8 months. Unfined and unfiltered. pH 3.69; TA 4.5 g/L; FS02 10ppm at bottling; TSO2 19ppm; Residual Sugar < 2 g/L

PRODUCTION: 837 cases produced

AGING POTENTIAL: 

STYLE: Still

WINE TO SOFA, TABLE, OR OCCASION: Table

BODY: Medium bodied

TASTE: Dry

TANNINS: Fine and well-integrated.

PRIMARY AROMAS: Wild blackberry, black plums, crunchy black cherry

FLAVOR: Sultry, silken, finely textural, slender, soft palate, balsamic on the finish

FORMAT: 750ml

ALCOHOL: 11.5%

SERVICE AND FOOD PAIRING SUGGESTION: Decant/carafe for at least half an hour before serving. 

ABOUT THE PRODUCER: Pearl Morissette

“Francois Morissette is making the most exciting wines in Canada that we know of in his small corner of Ontario. They are uncompromising wines of terroir that easily transcend the boundaries of the Niagara Peninsula; in his words, ‘I don’t make wine for Ontario, I make wine for the world.’”

“Francois’ career in wine began in his early 20s when he spent a year working for Domaine Alain Gras in Saint-Romain, learning about the traditional winemaking methods of the region. Once he moved back to Quebec, he worked towards becoming a sommelier and spent the rest of the 1990s building some of the most ambitious wine lists in both Quebec and Ontario. In 2000, the call of the vines was to loud to ignore and he moved back to France to pursue winemaking full-time, working for some of the most famous producers in the Côte d’Or including Frédéric Mugnier in Chambolle-Musigny, Christian Gouges of Domaine Henri Gouges in Nuits-Saint-Georges and Domaine Roulot in Meursault.  After 7 years in Burgundy, he returned to Canada with an eye to make his own wine using the knowledge he gained abroad, and it wasn’t long before he found a partner (Mel Pearl, a developer in Toronto) with whom to make it all happen.

“The estate now owns two vineyards: the 19th Street Vineyard in the Twenty Mile Beach VQA and the home vineyard which is next to the winery, that is part of the Creek Shore VQA: both farmed organically, though not certified. Francois also runs a small negoce project with other likeminded growers in the area. When harvesting (which is done in multiple passes by hand), Francois pays keen attention to the ripeness levels of the grapes as he views this as the key to achieving perfect balance in the finished wine.

“In the cellar, vinifications are done in a wide variety of different vessels ranging from cement tank, to barrique, to cement egg. Fining and filtration is frowned upon, and sulfur is only used in minuscule doses, if at all. Francois makes a range of different wines from his estate.” (selectionmassale.com)

ABOUT THE VINEYARD: Home Farm Vineyard