Nose
Intense lifted berry fruits in the raspberry spectrum with chocolate and mocha hints. Some complex cedary notes from quality French oak are noted.
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Only medium-bodied compared to its cousins, this wine surprises with its depth of fruit intensity and tannin complexity, showing great mid-palate fruit sweetness and impressive textural palate extension. This is a very fine wine and an outstanding example of a classic red wine variety.
The year 2020 will naturally go down as a very strange year for obvious reasons. But even before our lives were tipped upside down the 2020 vintage in Margaret River had presented its own mysteries and unusual occurrences.
Another relatively dry winter was followed by the hottest and driest spring ever recorded in the South West. The region experienced the hottest October and November on record with all vine maturity stages being well advanced of normal. So much so that we harvested Chardonnay at Hay Shed Hill in January something we have never done before.
The heat of spring did not extend into summer with the summer of 2020 being relatively mild; in fact conditions were highly favourable during the early part of summer. It appears that the seasons have just shifted forward a month with an early onset of autumn in the middle of March. This early onset of autumn did not prove to be a problem as most vineyards were picked and finished well ahead of normal.
The fact that a hot spring followed a less than satisfactory winter compromised grape yields across all varieties with crop levels being for the second year in a row uniformly poor. While quantity was low quality cannot be doubted. The whites are fresh and crisply varietal and the reds are vibrant and ripe with that lovely medium body that is the signature of Margaret River.
Cabernet Franc from Block 8 was fermented in open-top vessels with twice-daily pump overs for extraction of colour and flavour.
The resultant wine was matured for 18 months in French oak barriques prior to bottling.
Medium intensity, bright crimson red.
Delicious with BBQ'd beef or enjoy with a hard cheese like Cheddar, Manchego or Pecorino after the meal.
