Mission Hill 2019 Vista’s Edge Cabernet Franc

Vista’s Edge Cabernet Franc

Allison Markin - Oct 3, 2021 / 4:00 am | Story: 347474

Photo: Contributed

Wine: Vista’s Edge Cabernet Franc, 2019

Winery: Mission Hill, West Kelowna

Why drink it? Part of the winery’s Terroir Collection, a series of wines that explores the microclimates in Okanagan wine country, the grapes for this bottle come from the southern tip of the valley, from a vineyard in the edge of the U.S. border. Characteristic cab franc aromas of earthy herbs and blueberries rise from the glass, with a nod of oak notes from the French barrique treatment. You’ll taste further herbaceous flavours and dark plums, surprisingly bright acidity, and a lengthy finish with medium tannins. You’ll want to take some time to savour this bottle sip by sip.

Pair with: Your favourite lamb dish, the classic pairing with duck, or roast chicken with rosemary or tarragon. Give fennel a shot in a side dish of some sort. Find a good steak and kidney pie from a local bakery or on a bistro’s take home heat-and-eat menu.

Price: $60

Music pairing: Slow Hands, Niall Horan

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About the Author

As a kid, Shelley Boettcher often found herself in the back seat of a pick-up, exploring the back roads of the Okanagan Valley with her parents. They’d occasionally leave her and her brother in the car while they stopped at mysterious addresses to buy wine. They would emerge, clearly happy, as they stuck a box or a few bottles in the vehicle. Then they would continue on their journey.

But it wasn’t until a trip to Spain in 2000 that Shelley herself fell in love with wine. She came home from the holiday and promptly told her editor she wanted to become a wine writer.

And she did.

An award-winning food and wine writer and editor, Shelley holds her master’s degree in journalism and her advanced WSET certification, as well as her level 2 International Sommelier Guild certification. A wine columnist for the Calgary Herald, she spent a decade as CBC Radio’s national syndicated wine columnist and she has written three books about wine, including two that were Canadian bestsellers. Her byline has appeared in magazines and newspapers around the world, including the New York Times, The Guardian, The Globe and Mail and Postmedia newspapers across Canada.

Shelley has travelled throughout many of the world’s wine regions and countries, including Niagara, Oregon, Washington, California, France, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Australia, Germany, Argentina and the Republic of Georgia. A few years ago, she even tracked down and visited a winery in Denmark.

Shelley has also served as a professional wine judge regionally and internationally, including the Okanagan Wine Festivals, Vinitaly and the Chianti Classico Consortium. For more than a decade, she has been a restaurant wine list judge for the Vancouver International Wine Festival, too. She still teases her parents for sparking her love for wine, especially BC wine.

And her favourite? Whatever she's drinking at the moment.

You can follow Shelley on Instagram @shelleyboettcher or Twitter at @shelley_wine.

If you have a BC wine you’d like to suggest, email Shelley at [email protected] with the name of the wine and a short note about why you enjoyed it.