2005 Cabernet Sauvignon Margaret River

92% Cabernet Sauvignon, 4% Petit Verdot and 4% Cabernet Franc. Houghton selection clone. First planted in 1969. Un-irrigated, Scott Henry trellis. Soils ranging from sandy loam to a gravelly, red-brown loam, over clay subsoil. The season leading up to the 2005 harvest was almost copybook with ideal conditions for the vines. Hand-picked fruit, destemmed into open tanks, hand-plunged four times a day, then plunged once a day and monitored for tannin extraction. Temperature did not exceed 30 °C. Malolactic fermentation in barrel. In the first year, the batches were kept separate. After 12 months, all batches were combined, then racked back into barrel. At the end of the second year, the wine was racked into stainless-steel tanks in preparation for bottling. The wine was then filtered and bottled on 1 May 2007. Bright crimson with a pale rim. A very delicate touch – some ‘mineral’ notes and lots of lift. Is this due to the Petit Verdot and Cabernet Franc? I actually wondered about Merlot but perhaps only because the label reminds me of Pichon Lalande! Very smooth, well-worked tannins. Hint of saltiness on the end. Much more approachable than the Cullen Diana Madeline 2004. (JR)