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 free run was drained directly into French oak barrels (40% new and 60% neutral), and the rest was pressed off the following day. Malolactic fermentation naturally took place in the cellar, with topping occurring monthly. The wine was aged for 16 months before being bottled.”

Appearance: A deep dull colour, mixing ruby and garnet.
Nose: Medium intensity youthful aromas of red and black fruit, meatiness (from Syrah), sweet spices, nutmeg in particular, plums, and vanilla.  The aromas persisted with decanting.
Palate: Dry, light body, lean and soft mouthfeel to start, but as you swirl this wine in your glass it gets rounder and thicker.  Medium acidity and lighter tannins.  Medium-plus intensity flavours.  A mix of sweet red and black fruits, plums, sweet spices and oak toward the finish. With swirling you can add touches of floral, chocolate, cherries, and capsicum. The wine moved up to medium body, with a rounder thicker mouthfeel and stronger tannins with decanting.  No changes to the mix of flavours.
Finish: A medium-plus length finishing with firmer tannins, sweet and tart black fruits, oak, light pepperiness plus floral with swirling. A tarter finish with stronger tannins after decanting.

A top-quality red wine that you can open and enjoy or decant to get a bigger, rounder mouthfeel, and more tannic structure.  Your choice.  A wine to impress your friends and family.  I would age this wine for no more than two years.

Rating:   A deeply coloured wine that has a wonderful mix of aromas showing red and black fruits, meatiness, sweet spices and plums.  Dry, medium body with a rounder mouthfeel with swirling or some decant time.  More red and black fruit, plus touches of floral, chocolate, cherries, oak, and capsicum.  Medium-plus length.

Where Can I Buy This Wine?

This wine is available to purchase online from the French Door Estate Winery website.  Marquis Wine Cellars lists the 2018 vintage on their website.

The post Try French Door Estate Winery heritage French Red Blend 2020, C’est Magnifique!<span class=”badge-status” style=”background:#d3d3d3″>PR SAMPLE</span>  appeared first on MyWinePal.