2017 Snake + Herring Cannonball Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot Petit Verdot, Margaret River

The Cannonball is a blend involving Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Petit Verdot. We source from the warmer northern end of the Margaret River region as driving south of Witchcliffe to look at green Cabernet Sauvignon that struggles to ripen is a waste of time.

What does this mean? Cabernet ripens beautifully and Merlot on the right sites has power and generosity to match the structural class of the Cabernet and Petit Verdot. That late ripening bastard Petit Verdot needs the extra heat so they could finish vintage before July…

Handpicked and de-stemmed to small open-top fermenters, they let the ferments go wild. Hand-plunging often and vigourously we press ferments off skins when the tannins are melting in your mouth, about 5 weeks after ferment starts. Maturation was in a mix of old and new (47%) French oak puncheons and barriques for 15 months.
The 2017 Cannonball is more Cabernet Sauvignon dominant than most of our previous releases due to the quality of the 2017 vintage. Although a wet spring and early summer, the late summer and autumn dried out to beautifully ripen Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot in the north. Our site also has the Merlot in an exposed well drained spot allowing smaller crops and even ripening.

The 2017 Cannonball has powerful black fruited aromas of fresh blackberry, roasted tomato and blackcurrant with layers of dried sage, damp earth and graphite. The oak adds a creamy and almond meal texture to the powerful blackberry, dark cherry and fruit on the palate. The succulence typical of the Morgans site is extended and balanced by layers of fine tannin, building into a persistent pencilly/graphite textured finish. Bring on the bratwurst and smallgoods….