Two Sides of Cabernet from TIME Winery

There is always a rivalry between a son and his father (or parent). One knows more than the other, is stronger, or something else. Today I have TIME Winery Cabernet Franc 2018 and Cabernet Sauvignon 2018. You can see that both grape varieties start with Cabernet and they are indeed related. Cabernet Franc is the parent of Cabernet Sauvignon, along with Sauvignon Blanc.

How do these two wines from TIME Winery compare? Is Cabernet Franc more mellow and shows the finesse that a younger, Cabernet Sauvignon, sibling misses, or does the Cabernet Sauvignon show Cabernet Franc how much stronger and vibrant it is? TIME will tell, for now, let me tell you about how these wines rate at this point in time.

My Wine Tasting Notes

TIME Winery Cabernet Franc 2018 (BC $34.99)

Aged 16 months in French and American oak barrels. 525 cases produced.

Appearance: A deep, clear garnet colour. About 90% opaque, but still translucent to the core.
Nose: A medium-plus intensity nose showing sweet spices, cedar, red fruit, cassis, red cherries, and a touch of leather. After decanting I detected plum aromas, fewer red fruits and no leather aromas.
Palate: Dry, medium-plus body but not thick and round. More linear, but with swirling the wine becomes rounder. Silky smooth. A mix of red cherries, juicy blackberries, and touches of raspberry, cedar, cinnamon, and dark chocolate flavours. Plus toward the finish and very light bitterness and oak. Medium intensity, fine-grained tannins. With decanting, the acidity was more evident and the wine stayed with a lighter mouthfeel throughout the sip and did not get as round as it did upon first opening.  The raspberry flavour was also more evident.  The other fruit flavours stayed the same.
Finish: A medium plus length, finishing with sweet spices, cedar, red cherries and plums. You also get a bit of pepperiness, oakiness, and some bitterness. It has a lightly tannic and a rounder mouthfeel on the finish. Lingering cinnamon and cedar flavours after the fruit fades.  After decanting there was less cedar on the finish and the bitterness was gone.
No need to decant.  I prefer the rounder mouthfeel and the wider range of aromas of the just-opened wine.  Drink now.  A pleaser. 

Rating: a bigger, expressive Cabernet Franc.  Sweet spices, cedar and red fruits on the nose.  Medium-plus body with a silky linear mouthfeel.  Red cherries, blackberries, dark chocolate and plum flavours.  Peppery mid-palate to the finish.

TIME Winery Cabernet Sauvignon 2018 (BC $39.99)

Hand-picked, crushed and destemmed. Fermented in stainless steel tanks. Aged 18 months in French oak barrels. 300 cases produced.

Appearance: Dull, almost 98% opaque brownish garnet in colour.
Nose: Light intensity, starting with a hint of vegetal and smokiness that fades. Dark chocolate, red cherries, cassis and sweet spices on the nose, and vanilla with swirling. Quite a change in aromas with decanting.  There was cocoa, ganja, and dark fruits primarily, along with the smoky, dark chocolate and sweet spice aromas.
Palate: Dry, medium-plus bodied with pronounced fruit flavours. Rounder and fuller-bodied than the Cabernet Franc. Plums, blackberries upfront with ripe red fruit and nutmeg spice in support. Also a strong coffee bitterness. Firmer, grippy tannins that get stronger toward the finish. The fruit flavours stayed with decanting, although the plums and red fruits were lighter in intensity.  You also now get some ganja on the mid-palate.  The coffee bitterness was also much lighter.  Finally, the tannins were a touch softer, but still strong.
Finish: Very grippy, drying tannins. Black fruit, cassis, oak, and a hint of pepperiness. Coffee, cassis, and black fruit on the finish with decanting; more peppery, and still a dry tannic finish, but not as strong as when just opened.
Save to enjoy in 4-5 years, or decant before drinking now.

Rating: with decanting.  A big Cabernet Sauvignon that needs either ageing or decant time.  Ripe cassis and sweet spices on the nose.  Full-bodied, round, with blackberry and plum flavours primarily along with lesser red fruits and sweet spice.  Firmer tannins that soften with decanting.

Overall, the parent, Cabernet Franc, says enjoy the fruit and softer tannins upon opening, while the child, Cabernet Sauvignon says you need to give me time to breathe and grow, before you can enjoy my fruit flavours and the softened tannic structure.

Can these two wines meet in the middle?  Having both wines, I decided to try a little blending in the glass.  Mixing approximately 70% Cabernet Franc and 30% Cabernet Sauvignon, made a very approachable wine, with great aromas and flavours, both fruit and spices, and still provided some tannic structure without being overly strong. Enjoy!

Where Can I Buy These Wines?

You can buy these wines from the TIME Family of Wines website. Please check with your local wine shop to see if these wines are available.

Thanks to TIME Winery for providing me with these two wines to taste.  These wines were made by winemaker Lynzee Schatz, and was her first vintage with the winery.  She did such a great job with these wines and the other 2018 wines I was able to taste.