Henry of Pelham Speck Family Reserve Cab Merlot VQA

Concentrated dark fruit tones are balanced by black raspberry nuances in this dry red wine. A hand-picked blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, and Merlot from the Short Hills bench sub-appellation of the Niagara Peninsula. Yields were restricted to less than 2 tonnes per acre and the wine was aged in French oak barrels. This wine will improve with 7 to 10 years of cellaring.

93 points – Decanter World Wine Awards 2024

An assemblage of Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc. Planted in 1999, the Merlot comes from a high spot on our Old Farm. The Cabernet Sauvignon is from a site with heavy, chocolatey clay that dates back to 1988, while the Cabernet Franc hails from our Short Hills Bench Vineyard, planted in 1999. Fermented in a 5000 L oak tank, aged in small oak barriques, and made in vintages where the Atlantic-Maritime aspect of our climate expresses itself.

These vineyards are old because they are good, not good because they are old. Our vineyards are located in the Short Hills Bench, a sub-appellation of the Niagara Peninsula appellation. The Speck Family Reserve (SFR) wines are the highest expression of our specific vineyards’ terroir. From our oldest Estate vineyards, shovel-planted by the Speck Bros. starting in 1984, these wines take advantage of the many unique and defining features of our property, including glacially deposited soil types and the varying history of the plantings. Whatever the practice of the time, we are only concerned with the final result when judging if a vineyards’ fruit will contribute to the SFR’s.