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Wine Description
The Story
The best selected parcels of small flavour intense Cabernet fruit – from specific vineyard rows planted on rich clay loams over a thick hard layer of limestone – are used for Katnook Estate’s concentrated and powerful Odyssey Cabernet Sauvignon. This highly prized Coonawarra wine has emerged as a benchmark ‘essence of Coonawarra’ style with beautifully intense pure blackcurrant aromas, mocha oak complexity and plush chocolaty flavours. After vinification in ‘headed down’ fermenters maturation takes place over approximately 36 to 40 months in 100 % new French oak. Some parcels are “double oaked” to increase flavour complexity. Winemaker Wayne Stehbens describes the overall style as “fruit richness and elegance”. Odyssey has established proven cellaring potential and has a very keen secondary market following.
Vintage 2009
Near-optimum rainfall over winter, followed by dry, mild conditions over spring provided a good environment for budburst and an ideal start to the growing season with canopies developing well. Climatic conditions favoured flowering and set with mild and calm weather, however there was some shatter in Shiraz across parts of the state resulting in small crops for many regions. Some early to mid-December summer rainfall was followed by conditions drying up very quickly and continuing until the end of February. Summer was hot with some extreme heat but cool conditions returned in February and March, allowing the fruit to ripen across a long harvest with balanced acidities and excellent tannin ripeness. An elegant, yet still powerful follow up to the conditions brought about in the preceding 2008 vintage |