Black Hills Estate Winery Nota Bene 2010

Wine Type:
Style of Wine:	Big & Bold
Country of Origin:	Canada
Wine Region:	British Columbia
Appellation:	Okanagan Valley
Grape Varietal:	Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Cabernet Franc
Bottle Format:	750mL
Case Size:	12 bottles
$599.40 Per Case ($49.95/btl) This is a special order item

Tasting Notes

Black Hills Estate Winery was established in 1996 and proudly presents wines that have been carefully hand-crafted from vineyard to bottle. The terroir on our 27 acre vineyard on Black Sage Road is some of the most exceptional in Canada. A combination of rugged desert earth, long sunlight hours and cool nights yields the intensely flavoured grapes for which we are renowned. The deep sand and intense heat of this micro-climate enable the growth of exceptional Bordeaux grapes which are carefully hand-picked by our team.

In the winery, painstakingly exact vinification techniques are employed by our Winemaking Team to truly reflect this terroir. The resulting wine has been extremely approachable; which in turn has created an intensely loyal following with wine enthusiasts across the country.

Nota Bene is Latin for “Take Note” and this Bordeaux-style blend has become exceptionally popular since its first vintage in 1999. This is an estate, single vineyard blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc grapes grown in our Black Sage Road vineyard. Every drop of Nota Bene ever produced has come from our vineyard and always will come only from our vineyard. Thus we have reached our production peak of 4,300 cases that we will ever be able to produce of Nota Bene.

"Aromas of chocolate, star anise, spicy pepper, raspberry and cloves come forth on the nose. On the palate there is great weight and nice tannin intensity. This gives way to flavours of mocha, cherry cola, coffee and chocolate with a subtle hint of smoky leather and cigar box. This is a very versatile food pairing wine that would go well with grilled red meats or beef Carpaccio. All in all 2010 was a great vintage for our Nota Bene with very ripe fruit, thus enabling this wine to show a wonderful complexity."
-GRAHAM PIERCE, WINEMAKER

Critical Praise

Black Hills Nota Bene 2010. As usual, this blend is anchored with Cabernet Sauvignon, at 57%, with Merlot at 32% and Cabernet Franc at 11%. The Cabernet Sauvignon contributes a touch of mint to the aroma and flavour, complementing the cassis aroma. The wine has luscious flavours of black currant and plum, with long, ripe tannins. The wine finishes with a polished elegance. 92.

John Schreiner on Wine

Writer and wine columnist John Schreiner is Canada's most prolific author of books on wine.

http://johnschreiner.blogspot.ca/2012/04/black-hills-opens-1-million-wine-shop.html