2010 Cabernet Merlot
Dragon Fly - 2010 Cabernet Merlot
Blend:
59% Cabernet Sauvignon, 41% Merlot
Region:
Willow Bridge Estate, Geographe, WA
Bottled:
July 2011
Release Date:
October 2011
Technical Data:
- Alcohol 13.5%vol
- Total Acidity 7.0gm/lt
- pH 3.43
- Residual Sugar dry (<2)gm/lt
Winemaker:
Simon Burnell and Jane Dunkley
Winemakers Notes:
~ Style ~
Medium bodied with juicy berry fruits, yet with plushness and sophisticated elements well above its pricetag.
~ Background ~
Styled originally after the great wines of the left bank of Bordeaux on France's southwest coast, the regions of Australia's southwest have also had great success with Cabernet dominant blends such as this. This wine is a classic in that mould, with the typical Australian richness of blackcurrant fruit overlayed with an air of the sophisticated characters these varieties deliver when grown in suitable locations and matured in intelligently chosen oak. The winemaking was straight forward. Each parcel of fruit was fermented on skins for up to 40 days then pressed when the fruit and tannin were in balance, with harder pressings kept separate. The individual parcels underwent malolactic fermentation in tank before being matured for twelve months in Bordeaux coopered French oak barrels - only 10% of which were new. The final blend was assembled in June 2011, given a light egg-white fining and bottled.
~ Facts and Figures ~
The season:2010 was yet another excellent season.....A typically wet and windy winter and early spring came to a screeching halt as the vines started to hit their straps in October. The main growing season through to late April was consistently a degree or so warmer and 20% drier than the 30 year average, with less than 100mm of rain falling over those six months. A lack of significant extremes allowed us to avoid any vine-stress and harvest each variety in optimal condition.
Vineyards:The lion's share of the fruit came from the Blinman West Cabernet and Merlot blocks on our Ferguson Valley estate. They were planted in 1998 on classic freedraining WA "Marri soil" (a deep layer of ironstone gravely loam over reddish friable clay) with gentle north-westerly aspects at elevations of around 220m. Around one-quarter of the blend was Merlot from a contracted vineyard a few kilometers away on the coastal plain, with heavy cracking clay soils and temperatures generally two degrees warmer than our estate.
~Tasting Notes ~
Appearance: Dark cherry red.
Nose:Freshly ground coffee from the oak, dark chocolate, blackcurrant and tobacco. A hint of lavender.
Palate:Dense with rich dark chocolate upfront, it becomes more mid-weight through the mid-palate with the juicy blackcurrant from the nose taking over. A twist of citrus like acidity and layered, earthy tannins draw out the finish.
Cellaring:Drinking very well from release, but for those who appreciate maturity, it should happily be drinking well to 2018, perhaps beyond.
