Marynissen Estates 2002 Cabernet Franc

Found December 2013

This is a dichotomy of a wine, and right from the get go I was not sure whether I liked it or not.  The aromas were not pleasant, nor did they really come around, a cross between Buckley's cough syrup, rotting leaves and dried tobacco, by the two hour mark some black licorice materialized and that added a little pleasantness to the smells (a very little pleasantness) - otherwise it was not a wine I liked dipping my nose into.  And what's worse, if you just let it sit in the glass it filled the room with those oddball smells (aerating it created the better aromas of what I mentioned earlier).  But that is only have the story.  The palate more than made up for the nose, and what's even more exciting are the changes that occurred, over the two hours in was in my glass, were in direct opposition of the aromas.  The tastes started out with lots of tobacco; what made it easy to drink was the smooth nature of the wine, but it still had good acidity backing it up and all with a pleasant mouthfeel.  Over the course of the first hour it developed some dried-raspberry, along with hints of cinnamon, a delicate white-smokiness and some anise notes.  By hour two there were a definite pleasant smokiness, dried red berries, tobacco, clove, and burnt cedar.  Considering the age and the aromas eminating from the glass this is some pretty awesome stuff - I found some real pleasure in drinking it ... The wine is definitely past its peak but still mighty drinkable, if you can just get passed the smell.  Lost & Found Rating:  Treasure

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Marynissen Estate 2002 Cabernet Franc

Found – May 2008

Whoa Nelly, what a wine we have here. The initial pour and sniff was one of oaky-black fruit and the taste showed the same, but there was something else in there that was hiding in and amongst that heavy wood – I was determined to draw it out. That meant getting out the decanter to give it some air. A small Riedel “Merlot” decanter, along with a diffuser and screen (for filtering) were used, and there was plenty of inky tarry black gunk on the filter. But the difference, in both taste and smell, was night and day – now smoother and more approachable, the nose was still oaky and black fruit driven, but now with vanilla and cinnamon sprinkled on top … there is also some black raspberry on both the nose and tongue. Looking at the colour it was still quite dark, showing great extraction, deep and dark right through the middle of the glass and there was still a good red rim with little to no signs of bricking (change of colour from red/purple to red brick-like colour). Taste is smooth and luscious, the black fruit remains, but plumminess, sweet tobacco and black cherry oak were now added to the mix. Even decanted there was still fine grit in the bottom of the glass. Both powerful and wonderful, with each sip I was in awe. This wine just further proves to me that Cabernet Franc is Ontario’s red grape. A beautiful year like 2002 really shows what our wineries can do and how they can make beautiful, age-worthy wines with this variety. This one still has plenty of life left in the bottle – it’s delicious now, give it another few years and I can only imagine how good this’ll be. I seem to have one bottle left – I’m going to lay it down to see what happens. Lost & Found rating: Major Treasure … still hasn’t peaked.

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