I make a grilled rack of lamb once a year and usually enjoy a Pinot Noir or juicy Merlot with it. But today as the lamb was grilling I decided to try a bottle of Chaberton Estate Winery Reserve Cabernet Franc 2018. The grapes come from the Okanagan Valley with the wine spending 26 months in new and neutral oak barrels. The pairing was complementary with my meal. Let me tell you about the wine then the pairing.
My Wine Tasting Notes
Chaberton Estate Winery Reserve Cabernet Franc 2018 (BC $35.95)
This wine is vegan-friendly.
Appearance: A deep, dull garnet colour. About 90% opaque.
Nose: Medium-intensity aromas with meaty, sweet spices, plums and black fruits, plus touches of cedar and dark chocolate. With decanting the aromas are sweeter and you get riper black fruits, plus a touch of cinnamon.
Palate: Medium-plus body, dry round and soft mouthfeel. Medium acidity and light tannins to start. Black fruit, plums, plus light oak, cedar, and coffee on the palate. Maybe also a touch of minerality. The wine has a medium body and a lighter mouthfeel with decanting. Same flavours.
Finish: A medium-plus length finishing with medium-intensity drying tannins. Sweet ripe black fruit and a hint of candied red cherries. As with the palate, you get a lighter mouthfeel on the finish after decanting. The tannins are also lighter and the acidity completes the finish. Tarter black fruits, candied cherries, and now a touch of capsicum.
You get two different wines with decanting. Undecanted is bigger-bodied and mouth-filling on the palate, while the decanted version has a sweeter, riper dark fruit nose, but a lighter body and mouthfeel. Either way, the wine is very enjoyable. Your choice.
Rating: 
Deep garnet colour, almost opaque to the rim. Medium-intensity aromas of meaty, sweet spices, dark fruit and plums, plus touches of cedar and dark chocolate. Dry, soft, round, with a fuller mouthfeel. Medium acidity and light tannins. Sweet ripe black fruit, plums, and touches of oak, cedar, and coffee. Medium-plus length.
The Pairing
I coated the rack of lamb in a Moroccan spice mix that consisted of ground cumin, ground coriander, paprika, cinnamon, black pepper, salt, and garlic powder. Grilled in my air fryer for 30 minutes, before letting it rest and slicing it into chops. Medium-well done. I also grilled potato halves in the air fryer. I sliced tomatoes from my garden as the vegetable. The lamb chop was tender and soft, nicely fatty, and the spices deep, but not spicy. The flavour of the spices was complementary to the rich dark fruit flavours of the wine but did not have the zing I needed from the acidity in the wine. That is where the tomato came into play. Having some of the lamb with the tomato and its acidity, plus the wine made a wonderful pairing. Spice, fat, acidity, and fruit working together. A recommended meal.
As this is a vegan-friendly wine, what vegan dish would I suggest as a pairing? Maybe a tomato-based Indian curry, roasted vegetables, or a grilled tempeh black bean burger.
Where Can I Buy This Wine?
This wine is available from the Chaberton Estate Winery website.
