Jost Vineyards

Jost’s reserve Foch bottling has steadily gotten better and better with each vintage. Since the stellar 2001 release, when Jost’s Reserve Foch débuted in this blockbuster style, it has ranked consistently in the very top tier of Foch wines from across Canada, and that includes some very fine ‘Old Vines’ examples from British Columbia and Ontario.

This latest version maintains the consistency of quality established by the preceding vintages. It is deeply pigmented with sweet blueberry and currant aromas that are enhanced by warm vanilla notes. It’s an extremely attractive initial nose that only gets better with a bit of air as forest floor, pine and chocolate emerge, adding dimension and intrigue.

Deep, rich, and complex, yet despite its concentration, this wine is in no way cloying on the palate, thanks to the perfect acidity that lifts the wine and all its stuffing and holds it tightly to a long and tasty finish where silky fine tannins offer the perfect amount of texture to keep the flavours lingering long after swallowing. Drinking this wine is an absolute delight – it’s wonderfully tasty and balanced on its own, but built to be at the dinner table, or cellared for a few years to gain even more layers of complexity.

I really like Foch in this bulked up style. The grape has such great natural acidity that it can carry the muscle and remain agile unlike some other wines on steroids that are prone to becoming flabby and clumsy.

Reviewed March 28, 2008 by Adam Dial.