Nose

Intense lifted berry fruits in the raspberry spectrum with chocolate and mocha hints. Some
complex cedary notes from quality French oak are noted.

Palate

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 outstanding example of a classic red wine variety.

Growing Conditions

What a long, and strange vintage 2017 was. Every vintage is different; lessons learned
from the previous year don’t always help the following year.
2017 vintage started late, two to three weeks later than the preceding couple of years. The reason for
this was the mild, cool spring weather experienced all across the southern part of the state. During
the middle and latter part of March the South-West region including Margaret River experienced a
very unusual amount of rain and very cool weather, ripening over this period was very slow. The
first suggestions of worry started to appear in growers eyes. Of recent history Margaret River has
experienced very dry conditions in March and early April with the season breaking mid to late April,
not a problem with all the grapes picked. But this year the concern was that if the season broke in
mid April all the red grapes would be still on the vine. However anyone that lived though the late
April and early May in the South-West of Western Australia will testify that never had we had a better,
warmer early autumn. It was simply perfect; cool crisp mornings and evenings but beautiful warm
and sunny days; not too hot, textbook conditions for great ripening especially for the red varieties.

Winemaking

The Cabernet Franc from Block 8 was fermented in open-top vessels with twicedaily
pumpovers for extraction of colour and flavour. The resultant wine was matured for 18 months
in French oak barriques prior to bottling.

Appearance

Medium intensity, bright crimson red.