Vintage Conditions: Despite a challenging growing season with continued drought conditions prevailing, the overall fruit quality was high, displaying ripe tannins, good acidity and depth of fruit flavour.

Grape Varietal: Cabernet Sauvignon

Vinification & Maturation: Following a cool night harvest, to preserve fruit freshness, the fruit was crushed into a combination of open top, static and rotary fermenters. Each type of fermenter added a different aromatic and structural component to the final wine. After an average time on skins of seven days, the wines were pressed, clarified and sent to oak for maturation (a combination of French and American barriques, 20 percent new oak). Following a maturation period of 15 months, the wine was then carefully blended before bottling

Colour: Vibrant red purple.

Aroma: Brooding aromas of dark chocolate, mulberry and fresh graphite oak characters combine to give a complex, intensely lifted wine.

Palate: A vibrant fruit forward palate of black currant and mulberry characters being supported by a framework of structured tannin adding length and body.

Chef Peter Howard’s Serving Suggestions: Roast beef and crisped potatoes with Cabernet beef jus; Coq au Vin rouge