2014 Allouran
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Our Allouran is the heart and soul of our vineyard as it represents the core belief that when you combine location, soil, climate, passion and history you can achieve special wines. The wine is a combination of Merlot and Cabernet Franc – a classic Bordeaux blend from the “Left Bank” where these two varieties dominate. 2014 was a classic Margaret River red wine vintage with a cold and wet start to spring conditions, leading into a dry and eventually hot early summer. The conditions in summer were warm and dry with February / March having limited very hot days ensuring that the grapes were perfectly ripe and concentrated in flavour due to the longer season. A great year for reds and whites, giving opportunity for solid flavour retention and tannin concentration.
The fruit was severely thinned prior to veraison, and handpicked early one morning. Any grapes that were considered not good “enough to eat” were dropped on the ground.
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This was an excellent vintage for our both varieties in terms of flavour and complexity. The two varieties were curated by Clive Otto and Kate Morgan and fermented in closed vats and continuously “pumped over” to extract colour and tannins softly, with ferment being completed after 12 days for both wines. They were individually pressed and placed in French oak barrels and stored for 20 months.
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This wine was made by tasting and re-tasting every barrel of wine that we had produced from the 2014 vintage, selecting out the Reserves and doing that in synch with the combined tasting of the barrels forming the Allouran. If any barrel’s departure affected the quality of the Allouran blend it was placed back into the blend – quality is everything with this wine. The final ratio of Merlot to Cabernet Franc was 67% to 33%, a classic ratio from the St Emilion region. This wine that is both fragrant and plush on the nose, framed by supporting delicious oak, has a beautifully balanced complete palate with a magical structure and long length. A wonderful wine to drink and savour from an excellent vintage. When opening a bottle consider a meal with red meats or game fowl – seared duck breast with a berry sauce and this wine is wonderful combination.
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Technical Details
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Merlot:
Picked 24 March 2014
Total weight 3,120 kg
Baume 13.7
pH 3.39
TA 5.80

Cabernet Franc:
Picked 7 April 2014
Total weight 2,194 kg
Baume 13.9
pH 3.51
TA 5.40
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