"A new premium range from Stratus, the 'White Label' series is the culmination of 20 years of experience getting to know the 55 acres of estate vineyards, say winemakers J.L. Groux and Dean Stoyka, and 2020 was surely the year to launch the series, a "once-in-every fifteen-years-vintage for cabernet sauvignon, accoring to Groux.
"This bottling is from Cabernet Sauvignon "4 block", just below the "ridge" that runs through the estate (only a couple of meters higher than the lowest parts of the vineyard but enough to make a difference), which performs better in warm, dry vintages like 2020. It spent 2 year in barrel, of which about 40% new, and the nose is just starting to come alive, featuring typical black fruit from ripe grapes, and very little vegetal character to be detected, just a touch of evergreen. It's complex and complete, with the oak remarkably well-integrated, and huge, if gentle, tannic freight, but high quality, polished tannins. Length is excellent.
This is a very accomplished wine, arguably J.L. Groux's best cabernet in his long career in Ontario, spanning now almost forty vintages, perhaps one of the best yet in Ontario's History. The magic here is the combination of ripeness and firm acids, which will allow this to age for the long term, comfortable for 20+ years in the cellar. A be paradigm and pinnacle for Ontario Cabernet Sauvignon, one that will be tough to beat (and follow)." - 95 points John Szabo, MS,WineAlign
