Founding winemaker/owner Bob Thaden dials in his work with Frontenac, a French-American hybrid developed at the University of Minnesota that’s proven to be a winter-hardy red enough to succeed near the confluence of the Yellowstone and Tongue rivers in Miles City, Mont. Until recently, Thaden’s Frontenac program occasionally included grapes from Wyoming, but this marks the second straight vintage for his Warm Front to be 100% estate. He builds this to be “big” and “semi-sweet,” yet he does a nice job with the residual sugar — which comes across as about 3% rather than the listed 5% — and the fruitiness makes it a nice gateway for those new to drinking red wines. Complex aromas of blackcurrant and black cherry also pick up moist clay, pink peppercorns and violets. It’s loaded with Bing cherry flavors that carry lots of juiciness, and just enough cherry skin tannin to give it a framework that trails out into a finish of Craisins. Thaden encourages his customers to give it a bit of chill and enjoy it on the patio.
Rating: Excellent
Production: 50 cases
Alcohol 11%
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