A remarkably ripe and soft wine in such a cool vintage. The individual batches were destemmed and fermented as whole berries using only wild yeast residing on the fruit. Cabernet parcels underwent a suitable duration of maceration to extract a fine backbone of structural tannins and blackcurrant laden fruit. Malbec and Petit Verdot were pressed off skins earlier to maintain a soft and luscious mouth feel. The resulting wines were matured in fine French oak for 12 months prior to blending. Limited racking was used to help preserve the delicate wild characters captured in this low intervention approach.

2017 was a cooler and later vintage than the previous 10 years; a year of elegant, perhaps slightly lighter bodied wines, though ripe in flavour, vibrant and very perfumed. Higher than average yields in combination with a cooler season contributed to delayed ripening of the fruit and good acid retention. Some timely warmth and sunshine occurred throughout January, although February temperatures remained moderate with some rainfall. With the cooler weather, canopy management and fruit thinning was imperative to mitigate disease pressures and allow for even, persistent ripening. There was a warm start to March to finish the white harvest, followed by the driest April since 1982, finishing the reds beautifully.