Cave Springs - CSV Riesling, Beamsville Bench, Niagara (2020)

TASTING NOTES

Ripe yellow plum, Meyer lemon, fresh custard and vanilla bean, with hints of marjoram, orange peel, cut grass and anise. Saline, with notes of liquorice and mint and fennel.

An 18-hour, whole-cluster skin soak for the barrel and tank lots; fermented 65% in neutral 225L barrels, 30% in tank, and 5% on the skins at unregulated temperatures using exclusively indigenous yeast; aged 10 months sur lie, 70% in barrel; minimal sulphur additions.

Stony clay till composed primarily of limestone and dolostone mixed with sandstone, shale and traces of granite and gneiss; soils overlie moraine and sandstone/shale bedrock; depth ranges from 4 to 8 m.

2020 was a warm, dry vintage with low-to-moderate yields and highly concentrated fruit. Riesling ripened somewhat early, delivering fully extracted wines with ample acidity and long-term cellaring potential.