WTN: 2004 Mission Hill Cabernet Sauvignon (Okanagan Valley VQA)

This British Columbian Cab Sauvignon sells as a "Vintages Essentials" item for $20.95. It is easily the best and ripest VQA Cab I've had up to now - and, dare I say it, proves to me that the grape achieves more complete ripeness and balance in the Okanagan than typically in Ontario, where for years I've tried to find a spot-on blackcurranty Cab that didn't have at least a trace of bell pepper or very green, unpleasant tannins. No, the Mission Hill Cab is a truly fine, supple and well-filled Cab with a saturated cherry-garnet colour and an elegant bouquet of cedary blackcurrant with a complex mélange of bramble fruit. The tannins are firmly in place, yet they are properly ripe - you can see that the grape responded positively to the climate in which it was grown; "the grape fits the terroir", as I like to say (and I am sad to say that I rarely find this same level of fit in our Niagara Cabs). This was a truly fine example of a Canadian varietal Cab Sauvignon and I will be stocking up on it for sure. I can't think of anything about this wine that I didn't enjoy, and it makes me all the more proud that it's one of ours.