Therianthropy, 2020 “The Negotiant” Cabernet Franc
Therianthropy Wines is the brain child of David Eiberg and his wife Anastatia Phillips who launched the project in 2018. David studied winemaking at UC Davis, and did vintages in Burgundy, California, Oregon, Canada and South Africa, before settling in Ontario. They are working with select growers and vineyards primarily in the Niagara Peninsula, with a focus on organic viticulture using fruit from single-vineyard sources and low intervention winemaking, with the goal of making wines are the purest possible expression of place.
They are primarily working with the grape varieties that excel in Ontario, namely Riesling and Chardonnay for the whites, and Cabernet Franc and Gamay for the reds. The term 'therianthropy' refers to the mythological process of shapeshifting - and has two meanings for the brand: the shape shifting between humans and animals, and the shapeshifting of grapes into wine.
And each of the grape varieties they work with is represented by a particular character that is part animal, part human, each with their own distinct personality, which are lovingly brought to life on the labels by famed French artist Michel Tolmer. And the artwork will change for each wine and vintage. David is a big fan of Cabernet Franc, and believes in it as leading grape variety in Ontario. And appropriately, Cabernet Franc is represented Therianthropy family by the character known as "The Negotiant," who David refers to as the Superhero of the line up. David makes two Cabernet Francs each vintage - one being the fun, and playful side of Cabernet Franc which is called Le Maillot, and then the more serious side of Cab Franc being The Negotiant.
For the 2020 vintage, The Negotiant coming from a 1 acre parcel of Cabernet Franc vines from the Redfoot Vineyard, which is located in the Lincoln Lakeshore VQA sub-appellation. Of all the VQA sub-appellations in the Niagara Peninsula, because of its shear size, it is probably one of the most difficult to summarize, as there can be a lot of variability across the appellation.
The appellation stretches nearly 25km from east to west, on the Lake Iroquois Plain, following the shoreline of Lake Ontario to the north, and the Lake Iroquois Shore Bluff to the south. To put that into perspective, the entire Niagara-on-the-Lake regional appellation is only 12km wide, and is divided into four sub-appellations. While there are some nuances across this large of an area, generally the conditions get cooler as you move from east to west across the Lincoln Lakeshore appelaltion.
It is also important to note that appellation narrows considerably as you move west. In the eastern most part of the appellation, at its widest point it is around 4.5km from north to south. And the appellation narrows to 1.5 to 2.5km in the western part of the appellation, out towards the towns of Grimsby and Winona.
As is the case across the Niagara Peninsula, Lake Ontario is an important regulator of climate in the Lincoln Lakeshore appellation. So the closer we are to the lake, the stronger the breezes off the lake will be, which will cool conditions considerably. Conversely, in the wider parts of the appellation in the vineyards that are further away from the lake, these will be a bit warmer. But this proximity to the lake will mean that the growing season, while slightly cooler, will be longer compared to more inland locations.
In terms of topography, to the naked eye, the region appears quite flat, the appellation has a very gradual, gentle slope to the north, with elevations ranging from around 80m closer to the lake, to about 90m at the southern end of the appellation. Because of this relatively flat topography, the vineyards in this sub-appellation enjoy uninterrupted sunshine during the daytime, which is good for ripening.
In terms of soils, across this large area, there is a lot of variability in terms of soils, but there are some generalizations we can make. Approximately 55% of the appellation, predominantly in the western part, we find very sandy topsoils, over a clay-loam or sandy-loam subsoil. And in some localized areas we find heavier red and grey clays. Across the appellation, the bedrock, which is well below the surface, is the Queenston formation red shale.
The Redfoot Vineyard, which is about 25 hectares in size, is located in the central part of the Lincoln Lakeshore appellation. It is about halfway in between the villages of Vineland and Beamsville, towards the southern edge of the appellation, set back from Lake Ontario by about 3.5 to 4km or so. While it still receives the benefits of the breezes off the lake, this site is a little on the warmer side, which is good for Cabernet Franc. We're also in a part of the appellation where we find heavier clay soils, and specifically here we're dealing with a deep, iron-rich red clay. Cabernet Franc vines, a plot which is about 2.5ha, or about 6 acres in size, were planted in the early 2000s, so about 18 years of age.
In terms of winemaking for this wine, David's approach for The Negotiant will vary slightly by vintage, based on ripeness and condition of the fruit at harvest. So for the 2020, which was an excellent vintage for reds in the Niagara Peninsula, the fruit was hand harvested and hand sorted. David chose to ferment this 75% whole cluster, the rest destemmed. The vessel of choice here is concrete egg, and there was a 6-day cold soak in advance of alcoholic fermentation, followed by fermentation with indigenous yeast, and the cuvaison was 20 days. They did some pump-overs and punch downs during that time to ensure a healthy fermentation. And aging was done in concrete egg for about 7 months before bottling.
Key wine wine facts below:
Producer: Therianthropy Wines
Region: Niagara Peninsula, Ontario, Canada
Appellation: VQA Lincoln Lakeshore
Vineyard: Redfoot Vineyard
Soils: Heavy, red clay
Alcohol: 13.3%
