Limited Release | Just 25 Dozen Produced
Produced in exceptional vintages, our Reserve Basket Pressed Cabernet Sauvignon represents a carefully selected parcel of fruit from our single vineyard in Wilyabrup. Handcrafted using traditional winemaking techniques and matured in French oak, this limited-release Cabernet reflects the depth, concentration and ageing potential of our estate-grown fruit.
Colour: Deep crimson with a developing brick-red hue.
Aroma: Dark and brooding, with brambly black fruits, leaf litter, cedar and touches of chocolate mint. Complex and continually evolving in the glass.
Palate: Beautifully ripe blackcurrants and liquorice bring richness and generosity to the palate, while developing notes of leather and cigar box add complexity from time in bottle. Fine, gravelly tannins carry through to a lingering finish and will continue to soften with further cellaring.
Harvest: 17 & 27 March 2020
Alcohol: 14.5%
Production: 300 bottles
Viticulture: Our Wilyabrup vineyard is managed using sustainable, biological practices, with a focus on building healthy soils and producing naturally balanced fruit. Seaweed and fish emulsion foliar fertilisers are used alongside elemental sulphur and copper sprays for disease management.
Nothing goes to waste. Grape marc is composted with mulch and manure before being returned to the vineyard, while cover crops of clover, peas and ryegrass provide nitrogen and organic matter. Careful canopy management, including hedging and leaf plucking, helps regulate sunlight exposure and encourage even ripening.
Vinification: Harvested in the cool of the night, the Cabernet Sauvignon was delivered directly to open-top fermenters, where pristine whole berries underwent a brief cold soak before fermentation with a selected Bordeaux yeast strain.
Gentle rack-and-returns during fermentation encouraged the extraction of fine tannins and vibrant colour. The wine was then basket pressed and transferred to 100% new French oak, where it matured for 18 months.
A final selection of 450 litres from three barrels, each sourced from a different French cooperage, was blended to create a beautifully structured expression of Wilyabrup Cabernet Sauvignon.
Vintage 2020 – 9/10: Following a wet winter, warmer-than-average spring temperatures encouraged an early start to the growing season, followed by near-perfect summer conditions. Minimal rainfall, low disease pressure and well-timed Marri blossom created excellent conditions for ripening, with very little bird pressure.
Although yields were significantly lower than average, resulting in one of Margaret River’s smallest harvests in recent years, the quality of the fruit was exceptional. The reduced crops delivered beautifully ripe grapes with outstanding concentration, depth of flavour and natural balance.
With limited quantities produced across the region, 2020 will be remembered as a small but particularly impressive Margaret River vintage.
No products in the cart.