Wine Recommendation
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Wine Recommendation

Inniskillin Wines 2006 Cabernet Franc Icewine  (Niagara Peninsula)

Inniskillin Wines

2006 Cabernet Franc Icewine
(Niagara Peninsula)



The extreme sweetness of ice wines (in addition to the usually enormous price tag) is a turn-off to some. Me? I’m a total fool for them, believing that they’re sexy as all get out. This one, an unusual vehicle for Cabernet Franc, fits perfectly into this niche.

Shiny as a newly minted copper penny in color, this ice wine is full of honeyed strawberry aromas. While on the palate, it’s thick with burnt sugar flavors, a peculiar iron taste or minerality, which lends a patina of interest, and is smoky sweet. It’s not cloying at all, but if I have a quibble, it’s that the wine needs some more acidity (its pH is a rather high 3.6). Not enough acid, and any dessert wine is normally doomed, but interestingly, that’s not the case here. It’s simply spectacular.

The alcohol, as is with most ice wines, is low; only 9 percent (stated), with a deliriously high 22 percent residual sugar. Yummy!

Reviewed March 12, 2008 by Alan Goldfarb.

The Wine

Winery: Inniskillin Wines
Vintage: 2006
Wine: Cabernet Franc Icewine
Appellation: Niagara Peninsula
Grape: Cabernet Franc
Price: 375ml $90.00

Review Date: 3/12/2008

The Reviewer

Alan Goldfarb

Alan Goldfarb has been writing about and reviewing wine for 17 years. His reviews have been published in the St. Helena Star, San Jose Mercury, San Francisco Examiner, Decanter, and Wine Enthusiast, among others. Not once has he used a point system, star system, or an iconic symbol to quantify a wine. What counts in Mr. Goldfarb’s criteria when judging a wine is: how it tastes in the glass; is it well-constructed; its food compatibility; and presence of redeeming regional attributes.