Fruit tannin and bold flavours of mulberries and wet slate. A focused core of fine textures and glazed cherries culminates in a mineral and persistent finish.

Howard Park Leston Cabernet Sauvignon, a wine of good structure and power. Bright red crimson in colour. Red currant fruits, a hint of violets and oak on the nose. This full bodied wine had great elegance on the palate and a lengthy finish. No doubt one of the best example of the region.

Delicious bright cherry red fruits are supported by warm earth complexity and a silky finely layered tannin structure. Showing an attractive complexity and definitive Pinot Noir character in its youth, this wine by Marchand and Burch will age with grace over the next 5 years.

Rich purple/red with a vibrant purple rim. Distinctly Margaret River; driven by aromas of blackberry, plum, bay leaf and a touch of black olive. The Merlot and Malbec add texture, balance, length and a luxurious fragrance to create a seamless and unique red. A dry, warm season was punctuated with a tropical rain event in January. This pushed back harvest and allowed for better balance during ripening. The resultant fruit had wonderful thick skins, incredible concentration and excellent varietal identity. The Cabernet was harvested late-morning, to ensure the fruit reached the winery warm to ensure a healthy, even fermentation. The Merlot and Malbec fruit was harvested during the cool of the early morning so it could be cold soaked on skins for 5 days prior to fermentation. The selectively harvested fruit was fermented over 10 days, with the Merlot and Malbec undergoing partial wild fermentation. The Cabernet remained on skins for 20 days to ensure a beautiful, vibrant colour. All elements were then matured in French oak for up to 15 months. Each individual barrel was assessed to determine which were included in the final blend.

Employing elements of appassimento—inspired by the wines of Valpolicella—this is a fascinating Cabernet, totally different to anything we know of on the market. It comes from two blocks in the Blind Corner Quindalup vineyard, where the soils are sand over pea gravel with a granite base. The fruit was fermented naturally with no acid additions or fining. Maturation occurred in mature oak. A portion of the ferment was first air-dried before fermentation (appassimento), a process intended to soften and lengthen the wine’s tannic frame while adding layers of flavour complexity.