2018 Cornerstone Wilyabrup Cabernet Sauvignon

A single vineyard wine from the 45 year-old original plantings. Unirrigated to this day, the vineyard is sustainably farmed following organic principles. Hand-picked between 21st March - 13th April 2018 at 13.6-14.2° Bé

94.3% Cabernet Sauvignon (Houghton clone), 3.8% Malbec & 1.9% Cabernet Franc were carefully hand-picked, then sorted for optimum quality. The fruit was destemmed & cold-soaked for up to five days which allows a gentle extraction of colour, aroma & flavour pre-ferment: the cool temperature preventing the ferment from initiating. The fruit spent up to 12 days on skins to extract colour, tannin & flavour, with the ferment taking place in hand-plunged open fermenters, then up to a further 22 days on skins post-ferment. This was followed by maturation in French barriques for 17 months, of which 45% were new.