The estate has Cabernet Sauvignon vineyards dating from the 1940’s to the 1990’s, The oldest of the blocks is the 1949 'Old' Cabernet, planted on very fine red sandy soils. The blocks planted prior to 1996 are on unknown rootstocks, and are in very good health. They are trained on a single wire trellis with a mixture of head and cordon training; all are cane pruned. Tahbilk's vines are sustainably cultivated; composting and mulching takes place which improves soil health by promoting earthworm activity. Mulching helps to control weeds and conserves water, reducing vine stress. The old vines are hand-picked while younger vines are machine harvested.
The grapes were picked based on flavour analysis, at between 12.5 to 14.5° Baumé. The fruit was destemmed, lightly crushed and cooled to 12 to 14°C before being transferred to open vats. The vats were inoculated with selected yeast, plunging took place on the first day with pump-overs from then on. Fermentation slowly warmed up to 25 to 28°C and lasted seven to nine days. The wine was matured in 10 to 100-year-old large format French oak barrels for 18 months
A generous, expressive and elegant blend from old vines, with hints of bay leaf, mint and pepper weaving seamlessly around dark berry, spice and plum fruit flavours layered with herbal and cedar notes. Fabulous 'old-school' style, dense and full, cedary ands spicy, absolutely delicious !!
