Description

Black berry fruits and a rustic iodine feel compliment some bay leaf adding a background herbal lift. Mixed brown spices and a hint of oak; flavour and tannin. Beautiful fruit, refreshing acidity and fine tannins form a solid foundation for a long future. Complex but not intimidating, always exciting to watch evolve.

Ideally some bottle maturation will give this wine time to unfurl. Under suitable cellaring conditions it will evolve for 20+ years if you wish to show restraint, otherwise choose your occasion and enjoy!

The first plantings at Yarra Yering into block No. 1 were these Cabernet vines and the name was born. The Malbec was also part of the original 1969 plantings. Merlot vines were originally interplanted with the Cabernet with subsequent plantings made in 1990 on the newly acquired neighbouring land along with the Petit Verdot.

All hand harvested and sent across a sorting table, only the very best berries go into this wine. The Cabernet fruit is individually berry sorted before being crushed to build structure through fermentation. Merlot, Malbec and Petit Verdot are whole berry ferments for fragrance and to build palate weight. The majority fermented in half-tonne fermenters and hand plunged twice daily. One third of the Cabernet component fermented in a brand new 3500L upright oak cask and spending 8 weeks on skins for complexity and to build the savoury component. All matured in French oak, 40% new until blending after 15 months barrel maturation.