2018 Frankland Estate Cabernet Sauvignon Organic, Frankland River

Organically grown and made, 100% Cabernet Sauvignon. Wafts of dark chocolate, cedar and dried Italian mixed herbs are complemented by lifted red currants and mulberry. The palate is opulent yet focused. Ripe fruit abounds, balanced by mouth coating chalky tannin, which gives the wine texture and length. Ripe mulberry flavours intertwine with cacao and tobacco leaf. 2017 was an ideal vintage for Cabernet Sauvignon with a very long, slow ripening period which allowed for a long hang time. A wet spring provided good early vine growth followed by a cooler than average January and February. The summer cooled considerably in early March slowing ripening with the Cabernet harvest on 3rd May. Fruit was harvested in clean and ideal conditions.

Of the red wine varieties grown in the Isolation Ridge Vineyard the evidence suggests Cabernet Sauvignon is perhaps the most sensitive to the vineyard environment. This is reflected in wines with distinctive earthy, mineral qualities and rich, supple textured flavours.

Deep, rich and savoury. It’s all dark chocolate, blackberry and blackcurrant, dried herbs and cigar box. Thick earthy tannin, intensity of flavour, sweet dark berries and bitter chocolate, fine length and a slick of silty tannin on exit. Powerful. Needs a couple of years in the cellar.