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Awards, Ratings & Reviews
97 Points ā Winner of Top Wine Trophy ā 2024 Australian Halliday Cabernet ChallengeĀ
96Ā PointsĀ ā Halliday Wine Companion 2026, Tasted: 17 Feb 2025
āThere's a haunting beauty to this wine. Pure dark cherry, cassis with violet florals, understated light minty notes, dashes of white pepper, clove, a bit of turned earth and tobacco here, too. The wine is so very compact, tannins so very fine and high quality, the length of the wine exceptional, persistent in faint grip, spice, earth and blue/black fruit characters. The compact nature of the wine coupled to its refreshment factor is just outstanding. Unreal.ā
95 Points ā Erin Larkin, Wine AdvocateĀ
About This Wine
Fruit is sourced from Forest Hill Vineyard Blocks 5, 6 and 7, all planted in 1975 and all Houghton Clone, in Mount Barker, Great Southern. Soils are gravel and loams over clay.
Dry grown, with north-south row orientation. Farmed meticulously with shoot thinning and positioning, and crop load managed for low yields. Organic farming (not certified).
Hand-picked from specific small sections of old dry grown vines. Chilled, hand sorted at the winery and destemmed into small open and closed fermenters (stainless, concrete and oak). Cold soak for several days before primary fermentation. Fermenters were hand plunged depending on taste and ferment stage. Pressed to French oak hogsheads (~25% new) once primary fermentation was complete for malo-lactic fermentation, then blended and bottled after 12 months maturation.
Tasting Notes
Dark saturated berry aromas, including blackberry and cherry, with violets and florals and a vanilla pod sweetness. The palate is long and deeply flavoured with more dark berries, fine tannins and an ironstone, graphite line running through the wine.
Specifications
- Vintage: 2023
- Grape Variety: Cabernet Sauvignon
- Region: Mount Barker / Great Southern / Western Australia / Australia
- Vineyard / Geo info: Forest Hill Vineyard Blocks 5, 6 and 7; planted 1975; Houghton Clone; gravel and loams over clay
- Production Attributes: Dry grown; Organic farming (not certified)
- Harvest: 22nd April to 23rd April 2023
- Alcohol: 14%
- Acidity TA: 6.25 g/L
- Acidity pH: 3.58
- Fermentation: Small open and closed fermenters (stainless, concrete and oak); cold soak; hand plunged
- Maturation: 12 months in French oak hogsheads (~25% new)
