50 Year Old Vines Cabernet Sauvignon 2020
$80.00 / bottle
WINEMAKING
The grapes are destemmed, but not crushed, and spend seven days on their skins in open fermenters with twice daily hand-plunging and pumping over of the cap to more gently extract colour, flavours and tannins. This is followed by careful basket pressing and malolactic fermentation in a combination of new and seasoned French barriques prior to 18 months of maturation in our cellars.
In keeping with our low-interventionalist winemaking style to preserve the purity of these old vine vineyards, this wine was not fined and would be suitable for vegans.
50 Year Old Cabernet Sauvignon Vines represents less than 2% of the region plantings. Our vineyard is from the heart of the Valley Floor in Bethany – where the first village was settled in the Barossa Valley and the first vines in the Barossa Valley were planted.
TASTING NOTES
Deep magenta in colour with a vibrant nose of dark fruit, chocolate, vanilla and cinnamon aromas. An exotic and full-bodied palate driven by flavours of fruits of the forest, blackcurrant and a hint of savoury spice bound together by succulent fine-grained tannins. A wine of great length which will reward many years in the cellar.
Awards:
95 Points – Sam Kim, Wine Orbit
94 Points – Ray Jordan, Wine Pilot
93 Points – Dave Brookes, Halliday Wine Companion 2024
92 Points – Jeni Port, Wine Pilot
91 Points – Ken Gargett, Wine Pilot
SUITABLE FOR VEGANS AND VEGETARIANS
Reviews
95 Points
Sam Kim, Wine Orbit
This is splendidly expressed on the nose with blackcurrant, dried herb, clove and toasty oak aromas, leading to a succulent palate offering terrific fruit richness with spicy nuances. Beautifully framed by silky texture and polished tannins, finishing long and sturdy. At its best: now to 2038.
94 Points
Ray Jordan, Wine Pilot
A hands-on minimalistic approach was taken with this Cabernet to gently coax the delightful varietal characters from this old vine fruit. Leafy tobacco and blackcurrant fruits on the nose with a touch of red berry to lift. The palate is perfectly integrated with fine grained oak and silky yet firm tannins in support. It has the structure and fruit to handle extended cellaring.Drink by: 2024-2039
93 Points
Dave Brookes, Halliday Wine Companion
... sourced from old-vine Barossa vineyards planted in the 1960s and 50s. Aged 24 months in old and new French oak. Bright crimson in the glass with aromas of blackberry, satsuma plum and blueberry on a bed of baking spices, earth, olive tapenade, cedar, vanilla bean and licorice. The palate is flush with ripe black fruits, dark chocolate and spice with tight, sandy tannin support and plenty of vitality and flow. The finish is long and pure with floral purple and black fruits and an array of deep spices. 2023-2033
92 Points
Jeni Port, Wine Pilot
Statuesque and firm in structure but so fine in detail, this 2020 Cabernet reveals the innate beauty of the grape in the Barossa. The grape might be outnumbered in hectares planted by Shiraz, but Barossa Cabernet Sauvignon, especially off old vines, is something to behold. The lead into the 2020 vintage was far from ideal – dry and hot – but the old vines came through with class. Inviting aromas of black fruits, cassis, nutmeg, cedary oak, sage, oregano and jalapeño. Shows its fuller side sure enough, but the ripe tannin structure – not to mention, the herbal influences that so distinguish Cabernet – work in unison to present an integrated whole, that allows the finer detail of clean, bright fruit and spice to show through. Precision plus! Has time on its side. 2024-2038
91 Points
Ken Gargett, Wine Pilot
Sourced from fruit from the Bethany sub-region, the wine spent eighteen months in top-notch French oak.
A maroon/red hue. The wine gives us florals and bay leaves, dried herbs, soy, beefstock and cold tea with some earthy notes. Good oak integration. It is, perhaps, a little chunky in style, but this is a wine of power. Plenty of grip here. Five to ten years ahead of it.
