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Cabernet Franc - 2009
Tasting Note:
VARIETAL: 100% McLaren Vale fruit - Estate grown.
COLOUR: Dark brick red with vibrant purple hues.
AROMA: Lifted spicy aroma of mint & berry fruit with a hint of oak vanillin in the background.
PALATE: The aromas carry through to the palate which amplifies the intense berry fruit & spicy flavours that keep lingering on. A medium bodied structure with fine long grained tannins. Concentrated flavours add to the wine’s overall complexity.
| Wine Background |
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| Vineyard Site | Sand 350 to 600mm deep over clay. North side hills of McLaren Vale |
| Planted | 1988, 1 acre block |
| Trellis | Wide spaced double cordon, 900mm apart allowing good fruit spacing, plenty of light and good air movement. |
| Irrigation | Drip @ 12 litres a vine every 4 days. |
| Season | A very tough season with low winter and spring rains followed by a drought summer including a January heat-wave which fried berries on the wire. |
| Harvest | Picked 12 February 2009, 12.9 Be., 4.0 tonnes to the acre. |
| Winemaking | Fermented in 2 tonne open fermenters with heading down boards, temperature controlled to 18 to 26 degrees. Ferment period 8 days. Pressed out in a basket press. |
| Maturation | This was over 19 months in American barriques using a mix of cooperages and age of barrels. New barrels were 25%, the rest between 2 and 4 years old. The mix of cooperages creates greater complexity through the variation in their toasting styles and oak sources. The varying age of wood ensures the wine is not wood dominated. |
| Bottled | April 2011 13.7% Alc. 3.48 pH, TA 6.1 |