Price: $19.42

HST: $2.52

Total:$21.94

The 2005 Founder’s Signature Collection Meritage showcases the dynamic interplay between premium grape growing and winemaking. The grapes for this intense, complex dark red wine were ripened in a distinctly warm and dry vintage, resulting in low yields and lending loads of character and concentration to the finished wine. A marriage of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Merlot presents a superior bouquet of dried plums, cherries and toasted cedar on the nose with tobacco and spice on the palate. It is full-bodied and robust and ideally a wine for long-term ageing. Heavy, red meat dishes such as pepper steak and beef stew, grilled game meets, and grilled Portobello mushrooms work best here. Cellar for up to 8 years and beyond.

Grape Varietals: Cabernet Sauvignon 48%
Cabernet Franc 46%
Merlot 6%

Harvest Date: Sept. / Oct. 2005

Brix at Harvest: 22.3º average

Vineyard(s): Kew, Beamsville Bench sub-appellation (Merlot)
Fox, Twenty Mile Bench sub-appellation (CF)
Cuesta, Twenty Mile Bench sub-appellation (CS)

Production: 580 (9 L) cases

Titratable Acidity:5.4 g/L

Alcohol: 13.1%

Residual Sugar: 4 g/L

pH: 3.78

Malo-Lactic Fermentation: 100% conversion of malic to lactic acid

Ageing: French & American & Hungarian oak 16 months