Cabernet Franc 2022

Vineyard: 20km north of Heathcote lies a 5-hectare vineyard situated on the red Cambrian clay loam of the Mount Camel Range. The vineyard is dry-grown, and with traditionally low rainfall, leads to highly concentrated wines with good acidity. The Cabernet Franc vines were planted in 1997.

Winemaking: The fruit was handpicked in the middle of March, manually sorted, destemmed, and then gently crushed into open-top fermenters. Two days of cold soaking was followed by a 10-day fermentation period. The ferment was hand-plunged three times daily, ensuring a strong level of phenolic extraction. The wine was left on skins for a further six days after which it was basket pressed into 5-year-old French Barriques. The wine aged in oak and on its gross lees for 14 months before its initial racking. The wine was bottled unfiltered, unfined and with minimal sulphites.