Nose
Intense berry fruits, cassis and chocolate mint characters notes with background cedar like
oak.
Palate
Medium bodied, this wines shows a vibrant and lively fruit driven palate with a fleshy
middle and soft mature ripe tannin.
Growing Conditions
2016, what a sweet vintage for Margaret River grape growers.
Following a good winter was a mild and calm spring with generally good weather during the crucial
flowering period, that is the stage at which the flowers are fertilized and begin to form individual
grape berries. This stage can often be quite wild and stormy leading to significant loss of fruit. The
beginning of summer was mild, almost perfect growing conditions. There was a small rain event in
January which may have caused consternation had it continued but it was mercifully brief leading to
several months of virtually rain free weather.
March was mild, with perhaps only three days of intense heat, ideal conditions for the development
of the red grapes, with harvesting beginning middle of March through to the middle of April. The
weather broke in late April but by then the vast majority of reds had been harvested. Good colours,
ripe aromas and flavours and good structural tannins across all red varieties.
Winemaking
Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot grapes from the Hay Shed Hill vineyard were
harvested and de-stemmed into open topped vessels for fermentation on skins with traditional pumpover
cap management to aid colour and flavour extraction. The wine was matured in French oak barrels
for 13 months allowing integration of fine oak and development of the soft ripe tannin.
Appearance
Deep crimson red of good intensity and vibrant hue.