2022 Stratus White Label Cabernet Sauvignon

This must rank as one of the richest cabernet sauvignons yet made in Ontario - almost a monster, but a very well manicured monster. This pours deep, opaque ruby-black. The nose is not effusive at this point but it carries very ripe, even creme de cassis fruit embedded with fine tobacco, spice, vanillin and herbal notes. Really lovely aromatics. It is full bodied, plush, dense and warm on the palate with a whopping 14.9% alcohol. But in this rich milieu the heat is just one more element. The tannins are youthful and starchy, but again in balance overall. The length is excellent to outstanding. Try a bottle now and cellar others until the decade turns. | 95 Points, David Lawrason, WineAlign

Stratus's premium White Label series, introduced with the 2020 vintage, represents the top of the Stratus range, and the 2022 cabernet sauvignon pours an impressively deep, opaque red-purple - it looks like a cassis liqueur in the glass - while delivering substantial aromatic volume, all ripe dark fruit, sweet, and high quality oak influence. I though the inaugural 2020 was impressive, but this may well just be a notch above. I love the thick, velvety, smooth texture and the superb intensity, a wine distilled down to a fine and genuine essence. Really redefines the potential of the variety in Niagara, albeit in a very small sub-section of the peninsula and in the 'right' vintages. Would make a fun blind pour at your next tasting with cabernets from premium locations around the world. | 95 Points, John Szabo, WineAlign