2014 was a warm consistent year producing wines of balance. Unfortunately high winds early in Spring reduced some varieties, but our Cabernet Sauvignon survived unscathed. Warm dry conditions until February perfectly ripened the Cabernet Franc and Malbec, but from March onwards the conditions cooled somewhat, extending out the Cabernet Sauvignon harvest and enabling more flavour development.
Our Cabernet Sauvignon is sourced from our original plantings of Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec and Cabernet Franc found on our south-facing slope. The soil profile of this slope is generally sandy loam over gravel and clay. The top of the slope, where the Cabernet Franc is planted, has significantly more gravel in its soil. These four small plots receive the greatest number of sunlight hours on our vineyard, but the east-west orientation of the vines ensures a slow fruit maturation. These are the last batches we harvest each year.
This wine was harvested between 25th of March and the 9th of April, yielding 6.21 tonnes per hectare. After being picked, the fruit was destemmed before passing over our vibrating sorting table. Once sorted and crushed, this wine was fermented in small closed fermenters. Following fermentation, the Cabernet Sauvignon must remained on skins for 28 days before being pressed for the secondary malolactic fermentation to occur. Afterwards, the wine was transferred into new French medium toast barrels to mature for 19 months.
This wine is a blend of 94% Cabernet Sauvignon, 4% Malbec and 2% Cabernet Franc.
The colour is intense deep crimson. The nose is expressive and powerful, showing primary Cabernet characters of blackcurrant, mulberry and dark cherry combined with tight grained French oak.
On opening the palate is dense, but shows great balance and finesse. There is a lovely softness and suppleness to the palate that overlays a powerful core of old vine Cabernet fruit. Hints of vanilla, mint and bay leaf emerge and combine with the primary fruit flavours as the wine opens up over the first hour. Given enough air and time, the tannins soften and the wine opens up to reveal more nuance, but still at this stage maintaining it's youthful power.
Our 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon will be best enjoyed from 2028 to 2040.
Woodlands ‘Matthew’ Cab. Sauvignon 2014 Red Wine - Margaret River, Australia
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