Voyager Estate Cabernet Sauvignon 2015

This Margaret River classic comes from hand-harvested parcels of fruit from the Estate's very best vineyard blocks. The core Cabernet Sauvignon components were selectively cropped from the Estate Old Block planted in 1978 and Block 12 from the North vineyard planted in 1995. These two vineyards display exceptional consistency from season to season and showcase clear vineyard site expression, producing wines with great intensity and individuality. The wine was blended with a small portion of Merlot (4%) adding flesh and earthiness to the mid-palate. Bunches were de-stemmed to retain as many whole berries as possible after which the parcels were fermented separately in open and upright fermenters with regular, gentle pump overs and plunging. Fermentation temperatures were kept below 25°C. Following primary fermentation select parcels were left on skins for up to 19 days before being pressed. The wines from each parcel remained separate during 20 months of maturation in tight-grain French oak of which 50% was new. The wines were racked every three months to aid clarification. Following the maturation period the batches were then blended, fined and filtered prior to being bottled in January 2017.

"50% new French oak. It's as much about texture and length as it is about flavour, though there's certainly no shortage of the latter. It tastes of dark chocolate and coffee, blackcurrant and black licorice, with gum leaf notes adding lift. Tannin. We need to talk about tannin. It's so fine and yet so firm in this wine; it's like a wise old cope, perfect in its under-zealous application of the law. What we have here is a wine perfectly positioned to age magnificently." 96 points, Campbell Mattinson, winecompanion.com.au

Country: Australia
Region: Margaret River