By Rick VanSickle
With a group clinking of glasses to welcome the grape harvest in Niagara, the brain trust that is the League of Farmers gathered for the annual tasting of their signature Cabernet Franc.
Also in this Niagara Wine Report: Our picks of the Niagara wines coming to Vintages on Oct. 5, including Fogolar, Henry of Pelham, Domaine Le Clos Jordanne, and Featherstone.
The “league” consists of four Niagara-on-the-Lake grape growers — Martin Werner, Trevor Falk, Shawn Spiewak and Mark Lepp — who decided in 2020 to diversify their farming operations and start making their own wine from their own grapes grown on their own farms that are all within a stone’s throw of each other in the Four Mile Creek Road/East-West Line area in the Lincoln-Lakeshore sub-appellation.
Each farmer provides an equal share of their beloved Cabernet Franc and the four lots are blended, aged and bottled for the final version of the LOF Cabernet Franc. “The League of Farmers is about doing the best we can with Cabernet Franc,” says Falk.
While Werner is the winemaker on this project (and chief herder of farmers), the four partners and long-time friends love getting together to taste the new vintage against past and upcoming versions. There has been four Cabernet Francs made so far, with two currently released from the 2020 and 2021 vintages, the 2022 version coming out in November in time for Christmas, and the 2023 vintage that won’t be bottled until next August.
While the League of Farmers brand began as a virtual, standalone product, it now has a bricks and mortar home affectionately called “The Shed,” a cosy retail and tasting bar located at 1425 Lakeshore Road in NOTL and nestled next to the Ironwood Cider House. It’s a charming spot to experience not only the League of Farmers wines, but also wines from Werner’s other brands, including MW Cellars, BOTL, and another partner brand called Perenelle, not owned by Werner.
The Shed, open Thursday to Sunday, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., is where guests can enjoy flights of wine, glasses or just browse and buy. You can also purchase all wines online here.
I have tasted the LOF wines from the very beginning and was treated recently to a vertical of the four vintages of the Cabernet Franc to see how the older vintage bottles and aging and how the current ones are coming along in bottle. I also tasted the LOF Sparkling Rosé, and the MW Cellars Cabernet Franc 2021 for this report.
It should be noted that the striking artwork on the labels of the LOF wines is from Julie Amlin, a Toronto-based artist and muralist. You will find her vibrant work scattered around the Toronto street art scene and in private collections.
Here’s what I liked from the tasting:
League of Farmers Sparking Rosé NV ($22, 89 points) — This non-vintage, charmat style sparkling wine is a blend of all four farmers’ fruit including Vidal, Chardonnay and “blushed with our token Cabernet Franc” for colour. Werner told Wines in Niagara that this is a wallet friendly sparkling wine that “people can drink on a Monday by the pool.” The Cabernet Franc gives this pleasant sparkler its light salmon colour in the glass. It’s fresh, fruity with a subtle floral note on the nose with a vigorous bead in the glass and notes of peach, lemon, citrus zest, and crisp apples. It’s bright and lifted on the palate with nectarines, peaches, citrus, a touch of earthiness and pleasant effervesce through a lifted finish.
League of Farmers Cabernet Franc 2020 ($65, 93 points) — This is a really nice Cabernet Franc, about as concentrated and juicy as they come from the warm 2020 vintage. It’s no longer tightly wound on the nose, now showing the full range of integrated and dense black raspberries, kirsch, anise, mulled herbs, and fine oak spices. It’s substantial on the palate with a rich and structured profile that highlights ripe wild raspberries, black cherries, cassis, licorice, sage/herbaceous notes, seamless oak spices, and a long, lifted finish. Such a lovely Cabernet Franc. Drinking great right now but will continue to evolve until 2027.
League of Farmers Cabernet Franc 2021 ($42, current vintage, 91 points) — As I said in my original review, it’s hard to follow a near-perfect vintage like 2020, but the LOF crew has found a way to produce a more classic Niagara Cabernet Franc with a floral nose of savoury black raspberries, dark cherries, plums, earthy notes, mulled herbs, and integrated spice notes. It’s mouth-filling and more integrated than the last time I tasted it as it turns to darker fruits on the palate, showing anise, cassis, cocoa, eucalyptus, and savoury/earthy accents with grippy tannins, spices, and plenty of acid zip on a lifted finish. It’s starting to open up nicely, but a bit of cellaring or decanting is advised. Can cellar to 2028.
League of Farmers Cabernet Franc 2022 ($42, released in November in time for Christmas, 92 points) — Nice concentration on the nose with rich, ripe red berries, earthy/savoury notes, wild herbs, tar and toasted spice accents. It has lovely texture on the palate to go with juicy raspberries, cherries, red currants, anise, light herbaceous notes and spice with a vibrant, long finish. Can cellar to 2030.
League of Farmers Cabernet Franc 2023 (bottled next August, price TBD) — It’s unfair to judge this wine as it still has another year to go before it’s even bottled. However, the initial notes on the nose show a more floral and perfumed wine with fresh raspberries, dark cherries and displaying a classic style in its early iteration. The palate is similar, with fresh red berries, floral accents, light earthiness and a juicy, long finish.
A Cab Franc from MW Cellars
MW Cellars Cabernet Franc 2021 ($25, 92 points) — The fruit comes from the Wismer family on the Twenty Mile Bench and is a tale of two opposites. The initial profile on the nose is all about bright, generous and super ripe notes of cherries, raspberries, strawberry tart, integrated spice and hinting at garden herbs. But it’s strikingly different on the palate with more dark berries, anise, woodsy/earthy notes, chewy tannins, and mulled herbs that is all together a meaty, savoury, charred cedar, spicy/clove rendition punctuated by a vibrant, lifted finish. Will love to see how this ages, say until 2030.
Our picks from Niagara wines
released Oct. 5 at Vintages stores
Fogolar Grimsby Hillside Vineyard Riesling 2021 ($28, 93 points) — Winemakers are increasingly gravitating to this unique vineyard on the western frontier of Niagara, technically in the Lincoln Lakeshore sub-appellation but starting to prove worthy of its own its distinct status. It’s made using arrested fermentation resulting in 8.5 abv and 30 g/l of RS. It’s perfumed and floral on the nose with ethereal notes of lime cordial, apricot, peach pulp, fresh apple, wet stones and saline, with a pinch of ginger. It’s rich, layered, textured, and honeyed on the palate with deep notes of peach tart, ripe apple, lime, ginger and stony minerality with racy acidity and a long, echoing finish. Can cellar 10+ years.
Henry of Pelham Lost Boys Limited Edition Bin 106 Baco Noir 2022 ($40, 91 points) — Henry of Pelham, in case you haven’t heard, is Ontario’s No. 1 champion for this grape that was almost rendered extinct in Niagara during the great pullout of hybrid grapes beginning in the late 1970s. Henry of Pelham had no intention of ripping out their beloved Baco and now boast some of the oldest vines in Ontario. Fans of Henry of Pelham have made Baco its most popular wine at both the LCBO and the winery. This is the top expression of Baco at the estate, named after the three Speck brothers who spent a great deal their youth at the farm planting the vines that are still yielding grapes today. The grapes for the Bin 106 were planted in 1984 and the wine is aged in new and used American oak for 12 months. It has a rich and savoury nose with ripe dark cherries, juicy plums, currants, mocha, stewed herbs, anise and toasted vanilla spice notes. It’s concentrated and dense on the palate with anise, black licorice, red berry compote, fennel seed, herbs, earthy/savoury notes, dried tobacco, rich spice notes and plenty of juicy acidity on the lifted finish. Can cellar to 2031.
Domaine Le Clos Jordanne Village Pinot Noir 2021 ($30, 92 points) — Le Clos wines are all wild fermented and undergo wild malo with aging in 100% French oak barrels (mostly neutral oak). As much detail in the winemaking goes into the Village wines as the single vineyard and grand clos wines. This has a lovely nose of brambly red berries, floral perfume, anise/fennel, savoury notes and integrated, elegant spice. It has a silky texture on the palate with black cherries, wild raspberries, earthy undertones and long, lifted finish. Can cellar to 2028.
Featherstone Sauvignon Blanc 2023 ($18, 90 points) — 20% of the fruit was barrel fermented using neutral Canadian oak barrels. It has an enticing nose of grapefruit, peach, grassy/herbaceous notes, apple and just a hint of spice. There is lovely texture on the palate with rich and layered pear, peach, fresh apple, grapefruit, minty herbs, touch of spice and a vibrant finish.
Also released at Vintages stores Saturday, but not reviewed by Wines in Niagara:
• Stratus Alto 2023 ($29)
• Hidden Bench Estate Gamay 2022 ($30)
• Bachelder L’Ardoise Niagara Chardonnay 2022 ($26)
• Cave Spring Estate Grown CSV Chardonnay 2021 ($22)
• North 43 Cabernet/Merlot 2020 ($23)
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