Nose
On the nose are classic, bright mulberry and cassis fruit notes, sitting over the almost lazy generosity and complexity of Wilyabrup – cedar, leather and tar.
Palate
On the palate this wine is a classic Moss Wood Cabernet Sauvignon. The fruit flavours are a combination of mulberry, cassis and dark plum, with background notes of dark chocolate and tar. The structure is firm, with bright acidity and long, round tannins, that provide good concentration and texture but allow a finsh that isn’t gritty or drying, more powdery and pencil shavings.
Growing Conditions
The Summer was notable for consistent warmth without extreme heat, with only one day of 40oC, on 30th December. There was a consistent pattern repeated week after week right through to harvest, with temperatures rising to the low 30’s before slipping back to the mid 20’s. It is hard to imagine better conditions, especially for the Cabernet varieties. The average temperature across the growing season was 19.7oC, and the Cabernet Sauvignon enjoyed 973 hours in its ideal temperature range of 18-28oC, roughly 200 hours more than it needs to successfully ripen the crop. At the same time, the mercury exceeded 33oC for 66 hours, more than enough to reduce the green fruit notes. Yield for Cabernet Sauvignon was virtually average at 7.87 tonnes per hectare while the other two, Petit Verdot and Cabernet Franc, were slightly down. Reduced quantity was not the result of losses to disease or pests. Our fungicide spray program was successful in preventing disease and the birds were kept at bay by the nets.
Bottling
12/10/2015
Winemaking
After hand picking, the fruit was de-stemmed into small, open fermenters and then seeded with pure yeast cultures for primary fermentation. Extraction of colour and flavour was by hand plunging 3 times per day and skin contact was typically 2 weeks. After pressing the wine was aged in 228 litre French oak barrels for 28 months, 15% of which were new. In December 2014 all batches were racked and the final blend was made up, consisting of 92% Cabernet Sauvignon, 4% Petit Verdot and 4% Cabernet Franc. The wine was tasted for tannin balance and we concluded that fining was not necessary. It was then sterile filtered and bottled on 12th Oct., 2015.
Aging
If just a little bit of bottle complexity is your thing, 10 years cellaring should be about right.
Appearance
Deep, brick-red.
