Cabernet Merlot

Medium to full-bodied with lots of dark fruit of plum and berries. Herbal overtones of dried sage and thyme. The tannins are soft and full.

Blackberry, mocha, mint, cherry, mulberry, violet.

Miso glazed eggplant (nasu dengaku)

The fruit was grown in multiple regions in South Australia including vineyards in the Riverland (Loxton, Moorook, and Paringa), Langhorne Creek, and Eden Valley. Cabernet sauvignon and merlot are somewhat late ripening varieties, so growing them organically in the Riverland, a warmer climate, means that the fruit ripens earlier than it would in a cooler climate. Therefore, we can have less disease pressure and brighter fruit flavours while making sure the grapes ripen to the expected sugar levels without compromise.

Picking commenced in the Riverland in February and finished in Eden Valley in mid April, at about 12-13 baume. The grapes were destemmed, crushed and then cooled to 10°C for a cold soak prior to fermentation. As the grapes warmed up, fermentation commenced and lasted two weeks. The wine then went through malolactic fermentation and had new French oak. The wine was then bottled 12 months later. No S02 was used at any stage of production.

A strong 2022 vintage from high-quality fruit and low to moderate yields with excellent natural acidity from an overall cool vintage with extended ripening periods for most varieties. Perhaps one of the longest vintages we have experienced, harvest continued for 11 weeks from early February to late April.