Powerful yet elegant, the generous palate offers a core of ripe forest fruits, cassis, and dark chocolate characters. The wine has a wonderful density, layered with inky fruits, and underpinned by silky fine-grained tannins. Complex, and quintessentially Margaret River with a long Cabernet finish.
The growing season began with late budburst after a relatively cold, wet Winter. The mild Spring which followed ensured that there was good flowering and fruit set, in fact some yields needed to be addressed with crop thinning. Fine, mild conditions prevailed during Summer, which ended up being one of the coolest growing seasons in recent years. Harvest commenced late, at the end of February, with abundant Marri blossom keeping bird pressure very low whilst the whites were harvested. March was relatively wet with a significant rain event after most of the white fruit had been picked. Fortunately, the April that followed was glorious (the driest April since 1982 in fact) with fine weather and no heat extremes experienced at all. The extended ripening period allowing the reds to attain full physiological maturity and tannin ripeness with a wonderful sense of finesse.