Nose
The nose displays fresh mulberries interweaved with blackberry compote, cherry and violet. Quite lifted and vibrant, the nose also hints at a little sweetness in the form of toffee apple.
Palate
The palate reveals a wine of subtle power, showing an array of dark fruits, cacao bean, orange zest, star anise, and hints of black pepper. The palate is driven, beautifully layered and finishes with bright energetic acidity.
Growing Conditions
We believe 2016 may go down in history as Margaret River’s greatest vintage. A perfect warm summer was interrupted by 90mm of rain in mid January, after which the great conditions continued. Our unirrigated vines loved the drink, and went on to produce wines of class and restrained power, balanced by great natural acidity – particularly so for our Cabernet Sauvignon vines.
Woodlands ‘Margaret’ is sourced entirely from the Woodlands Vineyard. The Cabernet Sauvignon portion comes from a slope on the south of Woodlands that wraps around a 90-degree radius from east to north. The fruit on this slope receives a great deal of direct sunlight from morning to mid-afternoon, leading to rich full-bodied wines. The Merlot and Malbec plots that make up the remainder of ‘Margaret’ come from our west-facing slope of deep loam soil. This slope receives the most direct afternoon sunlight at Woodlands, and produces more exotic fruit characters in the finished wine.
Winemaking
Following harvest, the fruit was destemmed, hand sorted, crushed and fermented in small stainless steel fermenters. Following fermentation, the Cabernet Sauvignon portions remained on skins for 35 days for added complexity and tannin integration. Once fermentation was complete this wine was transferred into French oak where it remained for 18 months. - 50% percent of the barrels used to mature this wine were new.
Our 2016 ‘Margaret’ is a blend of 70% Cabernet Sauvignon, 17% Merlot and 13% Malbec. This wine is intense deep garnet in colour.
Food Pairing
Wild rice and mushroom stuffed red peppers
Olive, romato, roasted garlic, thyme and goat cheese tart
Slow cooked lamb shoulder with fresh mint sauce.
