It seemed strange to us that the Gipsie Jack line up did not contain a varietal Cabernet Sauvignon wine. Especially as it was mainly with Langhorne Creek Cabernet Sauvignon that John Glaetzer and Wolf Blass helped to build Langhorne Creek’s profile with three Jimmy Watson trophies on the trot  back in the early 70’s.

Viticulture Notes

We are lucky enough to have access to some quite old plantings of Cabernet Sauvignon on our original old floodplain vineyard.  It was Cabernet Sauvignon fruit from this very vineyard that made its way into some of those early Wolf Blass wines, so expertly put together by John Glaetzer.  This fruit is complimented by fruit from a few loyal growers from around the district on varying soil types, that gives us some different components when blending this Cabernet Sauvignon.

Winemaking

The fruit for this wine was picked in a number of separate small batches, all of which were de-stemmed and crushed to small open top fermenters.  The wine was then pumped over  2-3 times daily throughout fermentation to extract colour, flavour and tannins, prior to pressing to seasoned French oak hogsheads.   The wine then underwent Malolactic fermentation in oak, prior to maturation in the same barrels until blending and bottling.

Tasting Notes

Deep red/purple in colour, the 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon is quite lifted & floral a varietal nose of cassis and blackcurrant with some dried leaf, tobacco and spicy oak.

The palate is well structured, long and silky, with cassis and dark blackcurrant fruit with fine chalky tannin, good balancing acidity and length.  This wine will definitely benefit from decanting in its youth.

Cellaring

Designed for drinking now, but will further develop and reward cellaring for 5+ years