Nose
Warm fruit notes of plum, black currant and mulberry with a perfumed lift of sweet mint, savoury herbs, mocha and spice.
Palate
Opulent fruit weight and supple fruit tannins deftly cradled by fine oak flavour and tannins. Mineral and chalky structure enhances the palate texture and length.
Growing Conditions
Another exceptional vintage from the premium, southern grape growing regions of Western Australia. Winter rainfall was close to the long term average. The growing and ripening seasons, while largely warm and dry were punctuated with rains and windy conditions that did affect set and subsequent yields in many varieties. Warm, dry weather from late summer to mid-autumn delivered even ripening for the harvest. This mild end to the season allowed all varieties to ripen perfectly with high natural acidity, fine fruit structure and silky tannins.
Winemaking
Harvest of the 2010 Leston Cabernet Sauvignon blocks occurred in late March. Vinification was conducted in both open and closed stainless steel fermenters with diligent cap management to extract fine fruit tannin and strong varietal flavour. Select vineyard blocks remained on skins post the fermentation to further enhance the tannin profile while others were pressed at dryness to retain fruit vibrancy. Barrel maturation for 22 months in 50 % new and 50% older, French oak barriques allowed for the thorough integration of oak and grape tannins. Each vineyard block is retained and managed separately throughout vinification and maturation in order to build a grape and wine history of the vineyards over time. The wine was blended in December 2011 from a selection of the best Cabernet Sauvignon blocks on the Leston vineyard. After egg white fining and light filtration, the wine was bottled .
Appearance
Dark and dense cherry.
