Osoyoos, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia, CanadaAllegretto Piè Franco is both a medium brisk and playful tempo and a rare, ungrafted, Canadian single-vineyard merlot where the vines sit on their rootstock, an occurrence the Italians refer to as piè franco, rooted in white silica sand. Winemaker Severine Pinte is in constant search of trueness and originality, and this site fits the bill. The 2017 is a rambunctious youthful merlot with good aromatics mixing black plums and black raspberry with a spiced touch. The attack is tart, and the freshness follows through to the palate. The tannins are grippy and intense, something we see around the south Okanagan in 2017, where lower yields and smaller bunches are intensifying flavours and tannins. It will need a decade to fill out and show its true mettle, but it should be a good one.Tasted: 12 December 2020Tasted by: Prices:
BC
$65.00
750ml
winery direct
Producer: LaStellaDistributors: Winery Direct Grape: MerlotCSPC: 430769UPC: 808755011520
Osoyoos, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia, CanadaOver the years this has been my favourite Canadian merlot, by some distance, and it holds its title again with 2017. From east bench Osoyoos' Le Faucon vineyard and its distinct sandy, white silica soils, this was planted in the early 1990s. The pie franco in the name signals that the vines are planted on their own rootstock (piè franco). Perfumed black plums, wild blackberry, thorns rule the youthful palate, gripped by structural tannins, yet imbued with an inherent finesse that runs the long length of the full palate to a firm finish. Very much in youth, this benefits from advance opening / decanting now, but will certainly reward with cellaring.Tasted: 11 January 2021Tasted by: Prices:
BC
$65.00
750ml
winery direct
Producer: LaStellaDistributors: Winery Direct Grape: MerlotCSPC: 430769UPC: 808755011520