Anybody who’s paying any kind of attention to the Ontario wine scene knows that 2002 was a fantastic year for grape-growing and winemaking. That was 5 years ago and many of those wines are just coming into their own now. This Cab Sauv seems to have developed lots of non-fruit characteristics along the way, like white pepper, vanilla and cinnamon – there are some faint hints of fruit that linger in the background, but the majority have come from the barrel. In the mouth, the barrel flavours still have the upper-hand with vanilla, spice and caramel being dominant but there are some plumy notes that also come through. A great pairing with pasta and beef.