Tawse, 2016 David's Block Cabernet Franc, VQA Twenty Mile Bench, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario, Canada
Remembering Paul Pender (December 25, 1967 - February 3, 2022)
A few weeks back, the local Ontario wine industry was rocked by the news of the tragic passing Paul Pender of Tawse winery. Paul was one of our community's most talented and beloved winemakers, and while I didn't know Paul well, I wanted to take a moment pay tribute to him and his contribution to the world of wine.
Today I chose to open the 2016 David's Block Cabernet Franc. This is coming from the winery's oldest planting of the variety, a 5 acre or around 2 hectare block planted in 1998. We are situated here in the Twenty Mile Bench VQA sub-appellation, and the block is on a gentle north-facing slope on the Bell Terrace, or the first or lowest in a series of wide terraces that make up the Niagara Escarpment. The bedrock is complex layers of sandstone and dolostone, and the topsoil is a deep glacially-derived clay-loam till. This block has been farmed organically since 2001.
Paul began at Tawse in 2005 and became head winemaker in 2006. He was a firm believer that great wine is really made in the vineyard first, and he took a low interventionist approach in the cellar. The focus at Tawse was always the core four varieties that Niagara excels at, namely Chardonnay, Riesling for the whites and Pinot Noir and Cabernet Franc for the reds. And Paul was a true lover and believer in Cabernet Franc as a star grape variety in the region. In any given vintage, Paul made 4 sometimes 5 different Cabernet Francs, from not only their estate vineyards but working with other growers as well. When I was new to the industry, I recall the Tawse Laundry Vineyard Cabernet Franc as being one of those local North Star expressions of the variety.
When moved back to Ontario in 2020 and officially launched this project, Paul was the very first person I reached out to to discuss Cabernet Franc in Niagara. Paul was always generous with his time, and he and I sat down back in September of that year and we talked all things Cabernet Franc for well over two hours. We tasted three single vineyards Cab Francs that day and discussed the signatures of the different vineyards. Paul's passion, commitment and belief in Cabernet Franc was infectious and inspiring.
The more I taste different Cabernet Francs from different regions and from the hands of different winemakers, this might sound strange, but I can almost feel when the wine is made by a truer believer in the grape variety. And Paul was one of those flag-bearers, and any one that loves this grape would sense immediately in the glass, that this wine is made by someone who thoroughly gets Cabernet Franc, from vineyard to bottle.
While this project was born out of the desire to dig deep in to the terroirs and places where Cab Franc shines, I also wanted to tell the stories of the people who are just as passionate and obsessed with the grape as I am. And Paul was one of those people. He knew how to bring out the best of this grape, and most important tell the story about grape and place with relentless pride and enthusiasm. The world is less one Cab Franc flag-bearer now, but my hope is that his passion that exudes each and every bottle of Cabernet Franc he made will perhaps one day birth a new fan of the grape who then goes on to spread the good word, just as he did.
Key wine facts below:
Producer: Tawse
Region: Niagara Peninsula, Ontario (Canada)
Appellation: VQA Twenty Mile Bench
Vineyard: Cherry Avenue Vineyard
Parcel: David’s Block
Soil: Clay-loam till over a sandstone-dolostone bedrock
Alcohol: 13.5%
