Fifty-dollar Franc: Hillebrand Estates Showcase Glenlake Vineyard 2000

I had the luck to upgrade to this expensive bottle when my Hillebrand thirty-dollar-something was tainted. I took it back to the winery's shop and in exchange I received this gem. (Click image for product info.)

Okay, it's not cheap. But it's proof that Ontario can produce some very strong international wine. Credit the fantastic winemaker J. L. Groux, now making wines for Stratus, which is another Niagara Peninsula winery just down the street from the Hillebrand Estates Winery. Groux is getting a bigger and bigger reputation with each passing day and I consider myself lucky to have some of his best Glenlake years, which is where this bottle is coming from. I don't think it's outside the range of a good Saint-Émilion, either in terms of quality or in terms of price.

Both sides hate the comparison though, so here are my notes, straight-ahead.

The Hillebrand Estates Showcase Cabernet Franc Glenlake Vineyard 2000 has a light magenta colour. (At this point, I worried about whether this bottle was past its design life as several winos forecast 2008 as a definite best-before expiration. That's just my nerves though.)

On the nose there were beautiful musky and mellow tones. The bouquet is so alluring that I wanted to return to it even after my first sip. You could bask in it. With repeated sniffs I picked up confit of fig. Yummy.

This was reflected in my first taste. It's noticeably supple and rich in the mouth. You could sense the age on this wine. On the palate I found both a typically leafy and a more unique vegetal profile. Yes, it was partly characteristic green pepper but also a fantastic combination of pithy tomato and stewed vegetables. There was some vanilla too, and since the wine was peaking and potentially fading, it threatened to round off the wine's acidity as I drank. But it did not gradually take over as the night wore on. The edges stayed on and the wine was admirably cohesive.

This Glenlake Showcase was not all that long on the finish. Neverthelss, the wine was well served by food. I chose pungent but profiled flavours to embrace the wine rather than strong-arm it. I came up with a dish scented with fresh rosemary and delicious packed tuna in 100% olive oil all tossed together with three-colour pasta. Homemade toasted thyme pita with some melted cheese also played to the strengths of this wine.

Despite the successful match to light meal like this, the wine went with saucier red meat the following night and it also complemented the wine. But perhaps that's why I love a good Cabernet Franc. It's such a wonderful wine to have on the dinner table.

Click the images below for full details on the bottle label.