Nose
An intense and rich bouquet led by the ripest cassis and berry fruits, rich and opulent but brooding in its youth. Behind the primary fruits are distinctive vineyard characteristics of dark chocolate and mint. The oak is background cedar which will recede further as the fruits emerge with some bottle age.
Palate
This vineyard consistently produces intense fleshy and full mid palate Cabernet with massive fruit weight with dark cherry and blackcurrant flavours. At the time of writing the wine is very youthful and tight but it still has ample fruit sweetness that will only become more accessible as the wine matures in bottle. This is a big full wine with ample flavour and concentration in the classic Margaret River tradition.
Growing Conditions
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
Cabernet Sauvignon grapes from the Hay Shed Hill vineyard were harvested at optimum ripeness. The grapes were de-stemmed into open topped vessels for fermentation on skins with traditional pump over cap management. At the completion of fermentation the wine was left on skins for a further 10 days to maximize the development of the mature tannin. Maturation in French oak barrels for 13 months added further complexity and structure without dominating the fruit.
Appearance
Dense dark red to black colour of great intensity.