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Viticultural & vinification notes		Winemakers comments
Vintage conditions	A generally good Margaret River vintage with moderate temperatures throughout though late season rains presented some issues.	Colour   Nose        Palate	Intense dark red with a red-violet hue.   Dark fruit, black currant, black jubes, rhubarb and forest floor aromas with hints of green plum, mocha, eucalypt and the tomato leaf character typical of this variety grown in this region.   A medium to full bodied wine with concentrated fruit flavour and good structure. The flavours are of black currant, red currant, black jubes, and maraschino cherry with hints of black olive, stewed rhubarb and bitter chocolate. The palate is tight with good acidity and noticeable grainy tannin that combine to give the wine the classic drying structure one expects from this variety. A wine that will undoubtedly reward those who cellar.
Vineyard	Three Hills Hand pruned to rods Hand picked
Grape variety	Cabernet Sauvignon
Maturation	Fermented in stainless steel then matured in French oak barriques for 12 months with 1/3 receiving extended lees contact
Wine analysis	Alc/Vol:           13.5% Acidity:            6.6 g/l pH:                 3.70 Residual sugar<.2 g/l

This very noble variety from Bordeaux has found a natural home here in Margaret River. From the first plantings in the region it was clear that this variety belonged here and the district now produces some of the countries most regarded Cabernet Sauvignons.

What is really special about Margaret River and Cabernet is not that it simply makes good wine from the variety but that it makes regionally distinct good wines from the variety. While wine descriptions are subjective I describe this regionally distinct character as fresh tomato leaf.

Whilst this tomato leaf character provides additional complexity to Cabernet Sauvignon it must not dominate the wine. Great Cabernet is about rich red berry and blackcurrant fruit flavours with strong and obvious tannin throughout. Thus this tomato leaf note ideally should sit in the background as a unique regional marker. Essential to achieving this is a long cool ripening period as is offered to us by our Three Hills vineyard in Karridale. Additionally a trellis system which allows good light exposure for both fruit and leaves helps ensure that sweet berry fruit elements predominate over the more herbal elements that can negatively affect this variety.