Cabernet Sauvignon/Merlot/Shiraz 2015
We maintain a small library of select back vintages in our cellars at Bannockburn Vineyards. This Cabernet Sauvignon based blend started life as a bold and structured expression but now with almost 10 years of maturity, the softness and suppleness of bottle age has come into play.
- Viticulture
- Winemaking
- Tasting Notes
1976 and 1981 plantings of Cabernet Sauvignon, 1981 planting of Merlot and a 1996 planting of Shiraz contribute to this blend. The soils are a mixture of volcanic, dark loam and clay over limestone base.
Hand picked fruit was partially destemmed and partially left as whole clusters, and fermented on skins for an extended maceration. After pressing the juice was matured for one year in french oak barrels of various sizes. The wine has been matured in our cellars at Bannockburn Vineyards since being bottled.
We are always surprised by the quality of back vintage Cabernet based wines at Bannockburn and this wine is testament to that fact, whilst it has some maturity, the structure is firmly in place, acidity and balance of the wine is well in check and there is underlying cassis and violet typical of Cabernet Sauvignon, along side the plushness of Merlot and the pepper and savoury notes of Shiraz. A great value option, with a few years behind it, that will suit some big glasses, a carafe and the dining table.
Museum Release
Museum Release
Museum Release
2023 Vintage
The 2023 growing season started off cold and wet. For the first time since 2011 our dam was full, and in fact overflowed for most of October and November (rainfall for the calendar year of 2022 was 800mm). Budburst was slightly behind average timing, but crops were down significantly: the bunch counts were low in the first place, we had a mild frost in September and the wet weather finally caught up with us via downy mildew. The rain stopped at the end of December.
The overall heat accumulation was the same (1338 Growing Degree Days) as 2021, both seasons on the slightly cooler side of average but differing in that the heat for 2023 was more toward the second half of the season. Veraison occurred in February and then we picked Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Gamay, Sauvignon Blanc and Riesling in March, and Shiraz and Cabernet/Merlot in the first week of April. The picking weather was pleasant and the fruit arrived at the winery in very good condition.
While quantity was down (especially in Pinot Noir) quality was good: fresh acidity, concentration, colour, tannin and steady fermentations have us looking forward to bottling, and seemingly warmer and drier seasons as El Niño returns.
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