2022 Mount Horrocks Cabernet Sauvignon Organic, Clare Valley

Great depth of colour. Cabernet’s distinctive blackcurrant and briar notes on both nose and palate, along with chocolate, black olive and smooth, supple tannins. A medium bodied, very fine, elegant wine that will sail effortlessly through the years to well past 2040.

Stephanie hand-picks her cabernet (and all her other grapes) to ensure the fruit’s pristine condition on arrival at the winery. After cold soaking, the ferment is gently plunged 3-4 times a day. The wine then spends 18 months maturation exclusively in French barriques, 35% of which are new.

This may be described as ‘text book cabernet’ except that hand-working and harvesting cabernet vineyards, as Stephanie does, is becoming rare. Here, the benefits are clear.

Mount Horrocks Wines is operated by proprietor/winemaker Stephanie Toole, who restricts production to approximately 3,500 cases per annum in order to achieve her aims of quality and single vineyard expression. Stephanie carefully crafts her wines, which she describes as essentially hand made food wines with emphasis on structure as well as generous fruit flavours