Cabernet Sauvignon 2008
Tasting Notes
The wine is dark purple/ black in colour, and has a marvellous charcoal, dark red fruit and cassis nose, with a pretty floral lift. There is a fine, long and balanced palate showing fresh dark and red fruits. The tannins are fine and long and very approachable and the wine finishes softly with extraordinary length.
Vintage
Average winter rains were followed by a very cool and dry late January/ February, resulting in very healthy vines with big canopies and intensely varietal fruit which held their acidity extraordinarily well during the March hot spell.
Winemaking
Traditionally made in open fermenters and matured in a mixture of both old (60%) and new (40%) French and American oak. Of the new oak component, 90% was French and the balance American. The Cabernet Sauvignon has benefited from the addition of a small percentage of ‘cordon cut’ ‘Amarone’ style Cabernet which was left to dry on the vine for about two weeks after harvest. Separately fermented and matured, it was blended back just prior to bottling. This ‘Amarone’ style component adds an interesting dimension to this single vineyard wine.
Awards
Top 100 – Matthew Jukes 100 Best Australian Wines 2010
With almost cartoonish Cabernet flavours, and a depth of fruit akin to the shagpile in Scooby Doo’s Mystery Machine, this joyful Cabernet reverberates with boundless enthusiasm on the palate. Joch grows some of the purest and most luscious Cabernet fruit in the Vale and it is these astounding raw materials that ensure that his wines have immense integrity and appeal. Cinnamon sticks, soft black liquorice, mint leaves and espresso cream are all to be found swirling in this vortex of cassis juice.
Reviews
James Halliday's Wine Companion 2011
Deep blackcurrant fruit is framed by anise and olive; full-bodied and rich, with generous levels of dark fruit, and just a little savoury complexity thrown in for good measure.
Rating 91
The Age Good Wine Guide 2011 Nick Stock
Very harmonious, sensitively farmed cabernet, with assertive cassis that's right on the money, some violetine florals and earthy region accents too – really attractive. The palate follows suit, with pure cassis flavour and some black cherry too, and seems very much unhindered by oak or the like. Drink up!
91 points
- Big Red Wine Book 2010 and 2011 Campbell Mattinson and Gary Walsh
Other Vintages
Technical Details
Picking Date: 5th and 12th March 2008
pH Level: 3.51
Total Acidity: 6.81
Alc/Vol: 14.0%
Bottling Date: 18th June 2009