2019 Sandalford Estate Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon
This is classic Margaret River Cabernet from a cool vintage. It’s an elegant wine with sweet red and black berries, camphor, and savoury oak spice flavours of cinnamon, vanilla and cedar. The fine-grained tannins are soft and in balance with the fruit. There is a nice structure and softness to the wine which makes for appealing drinking in the immediate term. However, will reward short term cellaring over the next five to ten years.
Winemaker comments
Winemaker Notes
The grapes for this wine are exclusively from the Wilyabrup Vineyard, Margaret River, planted in 1972. Machine harvested fruit was de-stemmed to a combination of small open and static fermenters. A selected yeast isolate was used to inoculate the must with the traditional method of pumping over utilised to extract colour, flavour and tannin. Near the end of fermentation, the wine was pressed to tank and inoculated for Malolactic Fermentation (MLF). At the completion of MLF, the wine was racked and transferred to French oak barriques (30% new) for 18 months maturation before being blended. A small percentage of Malbec (5%) and Merlot (3%) were included into the blend to provide interest and complexity. The wine was filtered before bottling.
Meet the maker
By the time I turned 18, I had become fascinated with wine. I was keen to learn as much about wine as I could and I received some great advice: to work in the industry before committing to any tertiary study....
Continue Reading > I was lucky enough to get my start at the cellars at Houghton Wines, here in the Swan Valley. I loved it, and it was the beginning of a career which was to eventually see me spend 20 years with Houghton’s. But first, I wanted to discover what traditional winemaking was like in the northern hemisphere. I took myself off to Burgundy, France, where I worked several vintages learning as much as I could about the craft of winemaking from some the best in the business. Returning to Australia I continued my career, picking up a few awards in the process of learning more and more about winemaking and achieving Bachelor of Applied Science and Oenology at Charles Sturt University, NSW. I was awarded the inaugural Gourmet Traveler Young Winemaker of the Year 2001, James Halliday’s Winemaker of the year in 2009, Winemaker of the Year in Ray Jordan's 2017 Annual West Australian Wine Guide, and I’ve judged extensively at capital city and regional wine shows. Australia makes some amazing world class wines! I’ve been fortunate to be Senior Winemaker at Sandalford Wines since March 2021 and I’m delighted every day by our estates’ old vines, the passion of the viticulture team here, and the outcomes we are able to achieve each vintage.
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Continue Reading > I was lucky enough to get my start at the cellars at Houghton Wines, here in the Swan Valley. I loved it, and it was the beginning of a career which was to eventually see me spend 20 years with Houghton’s. But first, I wanted to discover what traditional winemaking was like in the northern hemisphere. I took myself off to Burgundy, France, where I worked several vintages learning as much as I could about the craft of winemaking from some the best in the business. Returning to Australia I continued my career, picking up a few awards in the process of learning more and more about winemaking and achieving Bachelor of Applied Science and Oenology at Charles Sturt University, NSW. I was awarded the inaugural Gourmet Traveler Young Winemaker of the Year 2001, James Halliday’s Winemaker of the year in 2009, Winemaker of the Year in Ray Jordan's 2017 Annual West Australian Wine Guide, and I’ve judged extensively at capital city and regional wine shows. Australia makes some amazing world class wines! I’ve been fortunate to be Senior Winemaker at Sandalford Wines since March 2021 and I’m delighted every day by our estates’ old vines, the passion of the viticulture team here, and the outcomes we are able to achieve each vintage.
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Tasting notes
Varietals
Varietal
Cabernet Sauvignon
Colour
Other Notes
Deep garnet with brick red hues.
Nose
Production
Bright red fruits and black berries with vanillin and mocha oak notes. There is an overlay of savoury spice characteristics with rose petal and floral violet notes adding complexity.
Palate
Tasting Note
This is classic Margaret River Cabernet from a cool vintage. It’s an elegant wine with sweet red and black berries, camphor, and savoury oak spice flavours of cinnamon, vanilla and cedar. The fine-grained tannins are soft and in balance with the fruit. There is a nice structure and softness to the wine which makes for appealing drinking in the immediate term. However, will reward short term cellaring over the next five to ten years.
Vintage Conditions
Vineyard Notes
Whilst the majority of Australia experienced a hot summer with above average temperatures in 2019, the southwest corner of WA encountered quite the opposite. Temperatures for the growing season were cooler than the long-term averages. These milder conditions resulted in a delayed ripening pattern for most varieties resulting in slow flavour accumulation. With no disease pressure, all grapes were harvested with a good balance of sugar, flavour and tannin ripeness. The resulting red wines are elegant in style displaying wonderful varietal characters.
