Pascal Madevon, a Bordeaux-trained winemaker who now calls BC home, brings his skills to make a magnificent red blend wine for the Okanagan’s French Door Estate Winery. The winery was founded in 2019 and is already producing impressive wines. I received a bottle of French Door Estate Winery’s héritage French Blend 2020, which contains just about every major red Bordeaux grape plus Syrah to review. The blend is 41% Merlot, 28% Cabernet Franc, 13% Cabernet Sauvignon, 7% Syrah, 6% Malbec, and 5% Petit Verdot.
Overall the 2020 growing season was average, but there was a cooler rainy spring. August and September had good weather. Harvest started a little later than usual but was able to produce quality wines, not as “big” as in hotter years. Rain and the crazy snowfall in October influenced smaller yields in the Okanagan. 2020 was also our first COVID harvest. Now, let’s get into the tasting notes.
My Wine Tasting Notes French Door Estate Winery’s héritage French Blend 2020 (BC $54)
Winemaker notes, “All grapes were hand-harvested and sorted before being de-stemmed and gently crushed into tanks. They were cold-soaked for three to four days to extract colour and allow natural yeasts from the vineyard to develop unique flavours before we inoculated and proceeded with fermentation. Fermentation varied per varietal but it was an average of 45-52 days at 28 degrees Celsius with three pump-overs a day. Once fermentation was complete, extended maceration locked in the colour and tannins this wine is known for. The
This Article was originally published on My Wine Pal