Additional information
| Weight | 1.467 kg |
|---|
2024 Clarendon Hills Sandown Cabernet Sauvignon
$85.00 / bottle
Planted in Blewitt Springs, McLaren Vale during the 1930’s the Sandown Cabernet Sauvignon site is populated by a rare pre-phylloxera Chateau Reynella Cabernet Sauvignon clone that expresses the ancient Blewitt Springs terroir with opulence and majesty. Low yielding, west facing old vines produce a powerful yet refined and elegantly composed, classic Cabernet Sauvignon with notes of black currant, graphite, slate, earl grey tea, sage and bay leaf mixed with cedar shaving and baking spice with a roast meat undertone that gives the wine power and presence.
Specifications
RegionRegion
Blewitt Springs, McLaren Vale. A sprawling hillside region 10 kms North East of McLaren Vale town centre famous for its added comparative elevation and abundant hillside aspects whose rich ironstone and deep sand deposits forge individual and highly fragrant wines. The Sandown Cabernet Sauvignon is a single site wine from an old vine patch planted in the 1930’s. These are pre-phylloxera, Reynella Clone Cabernet Vines.
Conditions
Wet and humid growing conditions in 2023 persisted throughout the year and continued in to the Spring time and Summer that preceded the 2024 harvest. The El Niño conditions encouraged the old Sandown Cabernet Sauvignon vineyard to shoot a large canopy with small berries and tight bunches by November 2023. Ripeness was relatively behind schedule by the time Summer arrived and the year would end with the assumption more cold and wet conditions would persist. However 2024 January had other plans and the fortuitous clearing of the humid and wet conditions mid January 2024 lead to fantastic dry and not too hot, ripening period. Late January to late March would really set the stage for what would become. Large healthy canopies pulled the fruit in to line and protected the small berry bunches from the Summer warmth. Hand harvesting occurred in late March after a long ripening period with very cold nights in the final weeks of vine ripening in March . The arriving fruit was exquisite with deep flavours and resonating tannins; both signs of an exceptional vintage. The 2024 growing season suited Cabernet Sauvignon and the quality and purity of fruit is highly evident.
Winemaking
Low yielding, dry grown vines from the Blewitt Springs region in McLaren Vale were hand-picked and followed by a 100% de-stemmed, wild yeast fermentation. All pressings were returned to barrel and eventually bottled onsite without fining or filtration after 18 months in French Oak.
Maturation
18 months, within a hierarchy of 1-5 year old tightly grained French Oak. Bottled at the winery with no fining or filtration.
Grape Variety
100% Cabernet Sauvignon, single vine, old vines
Closure
DIAM
Production
3000 bottles
Winemaker
Roman Bratasiuk
From vines planted in 1930 to the Reynella clone in Blewitt Springs. This unwraps over days, like many Clarendon Hills wines, though perhaps more so than any in this vintage There are some high notes of fresh thyme, sage, mint and hedgerow, along with cigar tobacco and cedar over a core of blackberry, blackcurrant and wild raspberry, which melt into a darkly mineral core, the drive of acid and robust linear tannins auguring for a long life ahead. It’s an excellent release, but a year or two of cool slumber is advised before broaching, though the pleasure will still flow with half a day in a decanter.
96/100
2024 Sandown Cabernet Sauvignon
- Wine Companion, Marcus Ellis April 2026
Blewitt Springs. Vineyard planted in the 1930s.
Serious Cabernet here. It has power and structure, though it’s not in any way heavy. Blackcurrant, fresh blackberry, dark chocolate, tobacco and black olive, a slight mint and floral top note. It’s tight, dense and distinctly ferrous, a crisp acid attack meets gravelly tannin, black fruit, a savoury flourish, with a firm and stony finish of impeccable length. Pencilly too. It’s a mighty wine and a great and individual expression of Cabernet.
96/100
2024 Sandown Cabernet Sauvignon
- Wine Front, Gary Walsh, March 2026
