2020 Cane Cut Chenin Blanc Dessert Wine

 Production: 156 dozen /375ml bottles

Colour: Deep straw gold.

 Nose: Caramalised pears with pineapple and tropical fruits and a hint of toastyness.

 Palate: Luscious juicy pineapples and candied lemons intermingled with caramalised fresh figs. Fine acid backbone brings freshness and lightness to the sweet fruits, finishing the wine crisp and clean.

 Viticulture: The vineyard is gown naturally using organic principles. Employing seaweed and fish emulsion foliar fertilisers plus elemental sulphur and copper sprays for disease prevention. Nothing is wasted, grape must is composted, mulched and mixed with manures then returned to the vineyard floor. Cover crops of clover, peas and rye grass are grown between the vines which provide nitrogen and green mulch. Canopy management is vital, hedging and leaf placing are used to control exposure to sunlight and further our effort to deliver perfectly ripe, balanced grapes to the winery.

Harvest: At optimum flavour ripeness the cane is cut at the base of the shoot, allowing the bunches to dry out.  This concentrates the sugars and flavours in the berries resulting in a luscious dessert wine.  The canes were cut on March 25th and grapes were handpicked four weeks later on April 30th.

 Vinification:  The grapes were pressed in a pneumatic press, fermented in a stainless tank and matured for five months in old French oak, then bottled in December 2020. Enjoy now or cellar 5 to 8 years if you have the resolve.

 Technical Data: Alc. 12.3%           Residual Sugar  142 g/L

 Vintage: Margaret River enjoyed an early start to the season, with warmer than average spring temperatures evolving into the perfect summer growing conditions. Low disease pressure, timely flowering of native Marri trees to keep the birds at bay and little to no rain meant that growers could literally “take their pick” when they wanted.

Compared with the challenges of cooler weather and significant bird pressure in 2019, the 2020 vintage in Margaret River was a real treat for viticulturists. The only downside of note has been the lower than normal yields across all varieties, resulting in one of the smallest harvests in recent years.  Yet here is another silver lining… the lower yields have resulted in exceptional fruit that is physiologically ripe and shows divine concentration of aromas and flavours.

Vintage Rating – 9/10