2 cab franc icewines (Day 2 finale)

Stops 1 and 3 for Carrie and I were Southbrook Vineyards and Jackson-Triggs Niagara Estate Winery, each of which were serving cab franc icewines.  In hindsight, this is not even a fair comparison.  Simply put, there is a reason why Jackson-Triggs has won dessert-wine medals for its cab franc icewines at the Canadian Wine Awards in each of the last two years and why Southbrook has not. 

 The colour of Southbrook's 2006 Cabernet Franc icewine was on the rusty side of normal, possibly showing its age.  The server told us to expect Christmas spices such as nutmeg to then give way to hints of caramel and vanilla.  Although that was technically correct, there was a pervasive burnt flavour that ruined this wine for us.  Sometimes I enjoy tart dessert wines, but those usually have a refreshing tang to them, not a stale aftertaste of burnt Christmas cookies!  Southbrook offered us a choice of truffles: dark chocolate icewine or caramel filled milk chocolate.  Carrie chose the former and I the latter.  She felt the dark chocolate overpowered the wine, which makes sense because dark chocolate usually helps break though the syrupy sweetness of cab franc icewine but since that wasn't the dominant sensation of this wine, it didn't benefit from the match.  I, on the other hand, found that the caramel in my truffle helped this wine out quite a bit.  On a side note, I asked the server if at 6 years old this bottle wasn't reaching the end of its life and was quite surprised when she told me that it could age for 20 plus years.  I'm assuming she's confusing cab icewine with regular cabs since a quick review of the websites of Henry of Pelham, Inniskillin, and Jackson-Triggs reveals a maximum suggested cellaring of anywhere from 4 to 10 years.  To be fair, though, Southbrook admits that icewine is not its specialty, and the visit was enjoyable enough overall to warrant a return during a different festival showcase.

A few blocks down the road we found a much better example in the Jackson-Triggs 2007 Proprietor's Grand Reserve.  With juicy strawberry on the nose, flavours of cherry and raspberry throughout, and a consistent body and structure, this is the bottle you should use to explain what cab franc icewine is supposed to taste like.  I do question the decision to serve a caramel and pecan topped milk chocolate square though.  Although the caramel and pecan worked nicely, the milk chocolate was the same level of sweetness as the wine so the two effectively had to fight for attention.  Incidentally, the LCBO sells the 200 ml bottle for $24.95 and the 375 ml bottle for $74.95, although you could purchase the 375 ml at the winery during the festival for $44.95.  By comparison, Southbrook charges$26.95 for 200 ml or $49.95 for 375 ml.  Don't bother doing the math; just try the Jackson-Triggs.