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Harvest Detail:
100% hand picked:
Cabernet Sauvignon 28/3-9/4/2002
Brix 23.6° to 24.4°
Total acidity 6.7 g/l to 8.6 g/l
pH 3.38 to 3.44
Bottling Detail:
13.8% alcohol
5.8 g/l acidity
3.76 pH
Bottled August 2004
1998
Richly flavoured red meat dishes.
2006 - 2012. May throw sediment while aging: Decanting is recommended |
A Gold Medal and trophy-winning wine, reflecting an outstanding vintage, this variety is only made in very special years. It is rich, powerful and elegant.
100% Cabernet Sauvignon
Hatton Estate 7%, Gimblett Estate 57%, Stockbridge 36%. All three vineyards are situated in the Gimblett Road area, adjacent to each other. Soils consist of river shingle, deposited by the Ngaruroro River. These soils are extremely free draining and of low fertility, growing low vigour vines producing small crops of intensely coloured and flavoured grapes.
We make straight varietal Cabernet Sauvignon only in great years. 2002 was one of the great vintages in the Gimblett Gravels area due to a fantastic warm, dry Autumn after a temperate summer caused anxiety. Harvest timing was later and more leisurely than normal with all grapes for this wine picked by the 9th of April. We were able to take our time and pick each parcel of fruit when it reached the optimum ripeness level, a luxury we don’t always have.
Hand picked fruit was gently destemmed without crushing into closed top tanks for fermentation. Each vineyard was harvested and vinified separately. Pumping over with controlled aeration took place over the fermentation period to extract colour and tannin as gently as possible. A post-fermentation maceration of the wine with the skins took place for a further three weeks or so to soften the texture and structure of the tannins. Daily tasting determined the optimum time to press the skins. The whole vinification process was tailored to make the tannins accessible. After a brief settling period to clarify the wine, it was put into small oak barrels, predominantly French, of which 40% were new. Regular three-monthly racking followed to clarify the wines. After around twenty six months in barrel, the individual components were assessed and blended. The resulting blend was bottled in August 2004 with gelatin fining and light filtration.
Superb deep ruby.
Cassis and black cherry, anise, chocolate, liquorice
A rich, supple texture. Secondary characters such as cedar, tobacco, spice, leather and licorice derived from barrel aging add to the fruit flavours of cassis, and plum. These will develop further with more bottle age. This is a wine of great elegance, power and concentration. |
