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Its been an incredible year for the winemaking team at The Foreign Affair Winery. Variable conditions were balanced out by sunny warm days which allowed for the grapes to ripen perfectly on the vine. Harvest officially began with Pinot Noir on October 4th and wrapped up as we brought in Cabernet Sauvignon on November 30th.  A few photos from the 2019 harvest season…

 

A large portion of our grapes are hand-harvested and set aside to dry using the traditional Appassimento technique. While drying, the grapes lose approximately 50% of their yield, leaving fruit with more concentration and complex flavours. After drying, the fruit returns to the winery to be hand-sorted, crushed and destemmed. White grapes are sent directly to be pressed, then housed in our stainless-steel tanks. While red varietals will ferment on their skins for up to 3 weeks before being pressed. After which, both the red and white varietals Appassimento (dried) grape skins are used in the making of our Ripasso-style wines.

 

 

The 2019 fruit has been looking, smelling and already tasting fantastic. The winemaking team move from Appassimento (dried) grape sorting, to crushing, to fermentations, to punch downs and pump overs, to press cycles, to barrel and tank fills. They are busy bees! There is a high level of excitement especially when it comes to the Cabernet Sauvignon grapes from our Estate and premium grower vineyards.
You see, we had a bit of a surprise on our hands this year. Based on the early spring chill, and the new vines planted in this particular block of Cabernet Sauvignon, we made some predictions as to how much fruit we would see brought in to the winery. We were wrong! The vines produced a full, healthy crop of  exceptional, ripe and beautiful Cabernet Sauvignon that we were happy to receive and begin crafting into our bold, Appassimento wines. Its very early to say so, but our winemaking team predicts that this will be a vintage to watch for wine collectors who favour Cabernet Sauvignon!
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Currently, we have the 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon available – an outstanding vintage! This wine received 91 points from local wine critic Rick VanSickle. Read that review here.

 

With notes of black cherry, blackcurrant, dark plum, vanilla bean, smoke, cedar and rich leather. This wine pairs particularly well with blue and firm cheeses, charcuterie, classic lasagna and risotto dishes.

 

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