2011 Coffin Ridge "Back From the Dead Red" (Ontario VQA)

According to the back label, this Foch-based blend consists of 78.5% Foch, 12.3% Merlot and 9.2% Cabernet (type not specified). The bottle is closed with a high-quality natural cork. 

This Foch-based wine pours with a beautiful, inky beet-purple colour that is so typical of the grape. The nose of the wine is representative of Foch, with intense, spicy black-cherry, pinpoint blackcurrant and intriguing brackish aromas that speak to the V. riparia heritage of Foch.

There's zippy acidity on the entry, with expansive cherry and classic herbaceous flavours across the palate. On the mid-palate, a nice streak of tannin is noted, and this is likely provided by the Merlot and Cabernet component. The finish is zippy, but nicely balanced (12.5% alc./vol.). The wine has a superb blackcurrant bouquet, is quite dry, and is both flavourful and cleansing.

The blackcurrant aromas remind me of the Old Vines Foch that Inniskillin used to make in the 1990s: the very wine that turned me on to Ontario red hybrid wines.

A recommended, characterful red wine from Grey County.

The wine is available at Vintages at the time of writing (search for local availability via the LCBO Product ID: 260463). The wine sells for $17.