Family Article

The grapes for this wine are from the vineyard at the front of our cellar door located on Radford Road at Seppeltsfield, near Greenock, and were planted in 1989. The vines crop at 1.5 to 2.0 tonnes per acre and when picked are kept separate to produce a single estate wine. As with all our grapes they are picked on phenological ripeness and flavour at a baume range of 14 to 16º. This baume sometimes produces a naturally occurring high alcohol, although this will depend on seasonal conditions.

The grapes are fermented in large, shallow open fermenters, pumped over, chilled and pressed through a basket press. The free run and pressings are kept separate through maturation and blended back together one week before bottling. The wine is racked into barrel to undergo natural MLF. The oak is all French shaved out seasoned second-hand hogsheads, with the better barrels being used for the pressings.

The wine is left to mature in barrels for a total of 27 months and is usually not filtered or fined prior to bottling. This wine contains the much sought after flavours of top Cabernets – mint, lavender, chocolate, berries and perfume – the perfect combination to produce an excellent example of this variety.