On the nose, top notes of juicy cranberries and red fruit compote from our best old vines of Cabernet Franc marry with comforting warm spices and hints of applewood smoke to invite the first sip. Intense and complex, the core aromas are of black tea, prunes, juniper berries and sweet cinnamon.
Deep and dark, this medium bodied wine takes you from plum pudding and nutmeg to a smoky and silky mid-palate. The wine is generous, round, intense and open for its age; with notes of dried flowers, chocolate, coffee and pipe tobacco. The oak frames the wine without austerity, leading to a long velvety finish.
Margaret River experienced one of the warmest vintages on record, on a par with the very warm 2011 vintage. White varieties were all harvested in a rush and look fantastic, with the fruit all in the winery by the end of February. The red varieties enjoyed a long, warm, ripening season that ensured beautiful mature tannins and bright varietal fruit flavors.
After destemming, individual berry sorting and light crushing, single vineyard batches were fermented on skins for up to 30 days. At the desired balance of fruit and tannin extraction, each batch was gently basket pressed, with harder pressings kept aside. The individual parcels were racked to oak following pressing for malolactic fermentation. The wines were matured for 18 months in selected coopered barriques of which 40% was new.
