Description

This spectacular wine was handcrafted from perfectly ripened bunch selected grapes of mature low-yielding vines within the distinguished Gimblett Gravels region. Powerful and beguiling, yet with tremendous poise, this refined wine is a harmonious blend of two varieties in equal measure, revealing lusciously intense blackberry and cassis fruit purity, layered with mocha, toffee, and subtle earthy notes. Lingering fine oak seasoning, with seamlessly integrated fine plush tannins, culminating into a wonderfully rich spicy crescendo.

Vineyards and Winemaking

The grapes for this distinguished wine are comprised of 50% Cabernet Sauvignon and 50% Merlot and were hand-picked on March 14th and April 1st respectively at an average Brix of 22.9 degrees.

The fruit was destemmed and transferred to open top fermentation vessels to have several parcels to later select from. Crushing was effected under the grapes’ own natural weight and cold-soaked for three days. Fermentation was thereafter initiated, with a combination of hand plunging and air rummage to extract and refine colour and structure.

Post fermentation, the parcels were allowed 14-20 days alcohol soak to attain optimal tannin structure and balance, before being gently pressed off skins and transferred to barrel in our temperature-controlled cellar for 18 months élevage in quality French oak barrels, all 100% new 300 litre hogsheads. With just one racking throughout, there was minimal disturbance to the wines to allow natural gravity settling and clarification to occur.

A rigorous barrel tasting process was then undertaken to select the ideal barrel component for the final blend and wine style, left unfined, to preserve the natural flavours, and bottled unfiltered on the 2nd of November 2021.