Awards and Accolades 🏆

International Wine & Spirit Competition 2023

• Trophy and Gold Medal

  • Praised as a wine of pedigree with beautifully balanced notes of dark fruit, red berries, pencil shavings and herbs, bright acidity and a powerful, age worthy finish.

Margaret River Wine Show 2022

• Trophy and Gold Medal

Royal Queensland Wine Awards 2023

• Gold Medal

Perth Royal Wine Awards 2023

• Gold Medal

Senior winemaker Matt Byrne notes that this wine shows how Margaret River cabernet blends are right up there with the pure cabernet wines of the region, and that international recognition confirms just how world class these blends can be.

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Tasting Notes 🍇

Colour
Deep purple black with a vibrant purple rim. Youthful and concentrated.

Aroma
Highly fragrant and cabernet driven. Violets, bay leaf, black olive and ripe forest berries rise first, with hints of cassis, redcurrant and subtle pencil shavings. Underneath sit herbal and earthy notes that are distinctly Margaret River.

Palate
Medium bodied but with serious drive and focus. A silken entry of dark fruits and red berries flows across the palate, supported by fine, chalky tannins and refreshing acidity. Blackcurrant, dark plum and mulberry sit alongside savoury notes of bay leaf, tobacco, warm earth and a touch of cedar.

Finish
Effortlessly long, with forest berries, herbs and graphite lingering on a dry, structured finish. Shows both precision and charm now, with clear potential to develop more complexity over time.

Viticulture and Vintage 🌱

Region
Margaret River, Western Australia

Vintage 2020
After the cooler 2019 season, 2020 saw a return to a warmer pattern similar to 2018.

• Warm, dry winter in 2019 led to early budburst and strong vine health

• Near perfect spring conditions at flowering – dry, low humidity and minimal wind

• Very dry four month ripening window from January to April with low humidity

• Ideal for deep, concentrated flavours and ripe tannin development

• Established, mature vineyards from the 1970s thrived in these conditions

• Exceptional Marri blossom kept birds off the fruit

• Whites came off quickly in early March, then a slightly moderated pattern allowed the reds to ripen more slowly and evenly, building flavour and softening tannins

Winemaking 🍷

Blend

• Cabernet Sauvignon 54 percent

• Merlot 37 percent

• Cabernet Franc 9 percent
  This 2020 release sees the highest proportion of Merlot in the blend to date, adding plushness and mid palate richness.

Fermentation and Elevage

• Each variety picked and vinified separately

• Merlot typically ripened about three weeks ahead of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc the last to be harvested

• Cabernet Sauvignon picked late morning to arrive at the winery around 15 °C for an even start to fermentation

• Merlot and Cabernet Franc picked in the coolest part of the early morning at less than 10 °C and cold soaked on skins for around five days

• All fruit destemmed, with MOG removed before berries went to small stainless steel static fermenters

Fermentation

• Partial wild fermentation on all varieties

• Cabernet Sauvignon started with indigenous yeasts then completed with a selected yeast culture over about 10 days

• Merlot and Cabernet Franc also saw partial wild ferment before cultured yeast additions

Skin Contact and Maturation

• Cabernet Sauvignon remained on skins for an extra 3 to 5 days post ferment for structure and depth

• Pressed to 300 L French oak hogsheads

  • About 14 percent new oak

  • Balance 1 to 2 year old French hogsheads

  • Underwent malolactic fermentation in barrel

• Merlot and Cabernet Franc pressed just before dryness into seasoned 500 L French oak puncheons

• Cabernet Sauvignon matured 14 months in barrel

• Merlot and Cabernet Franc matured 12 months, racked about twice and topped monthly

• No pressings kept separate, ensuring a seamless final blend

• Blended barrel by barrel

• Bottled without filtration, then given additional bottle age prior to release

Technical

• Alcohol: 14.5 percent

• pH: 3.47

• TA: 6.33 g per litre

• Gluten free

• Vegan friendly

Serving and Cellaring ❄️

• Serving temperature: 16 to 18 °C

• Decanting: 1 to 2 hours recommended in the first few years to let aromatics expand and tannins relax

• Cellaring:

  • Youthful and perfumed on release, with fresh dark fruit and floral lift

  • For added softness and complexity, cellar for 5 years and beyond

Food Pairing Suggestions 🍽️

• Roast lamb with garlic, rosemary and thyme

• Beef fillet or scotch with herb butter and roast potatoes

• Mushroom and lentil shepherd’s pie

• Duck breast with cherry or plum glaze

• Hard cheeses such as manchego, pecorino or aged cheddar

FAQ 🧐

Is this more cabernet or merlot in style?
Structurally and aromatically it is clearly cabernet led, with fine tannins, bay leaf, black olive and graphite. The higher than usual proportion of Merlot softens the palate and fills out the mid palate with plush berry fruit.

Is it full bodied and heavy?
It is medium bodied in weight but with concentrated flavour and serious length. Think precision, length and structure rather than heaviness.

How “serious” is it for the cellar?
The international trophies and multiple golds, combined with the structure, acidity and old vine fruit, suggest that this will age very well. Five years will bring extra complexity. Ten years and beyond is realistic for well stored bottles.

An internationally recognised, trophy winning Margaret River Cabernet Merlot that combines perfume, structure and class, while still offering outstanding value for a wine of this pedigree.