Leconfield Cabernet Franc 2016

Colour

Medium-full red with scarlet hues

Bouquet

The aroma shows elegant, ripe mulberry fruits, with a hint of dark chocolate. Oak plays a subliminal role in this wine to allow the varietal fruit to shine through.

Palate

The essence of the palate is its elegant texture, roundness and length. Silky tannins roll over the tongue to give a creamy sensation. The flavours show ripe boysenberry characters.

Food Suggestions

The elegance of this wine will match quite an array of foods. Try it with veal saltimbocca, pasta, aubergine lasagne, rare lamb or soft cheese.

Cellaring Potential

Excellent on release and will age over the next decade or more. Expect cedar and cigar box characters to develop with time.

Winemaking Notes

Our Cabernet Franc vineyard was planted in 1982 and we have occasionally released a single varietal wine when conditions have provided an outstanding example of the variety. Harvest was on the 7th March and, after 7 days in a small fermenter, the wine was racked and then matured in 4-5 year old hogsheads so as to complex the wine without unduly masking the fruit with excessive oak. After 15 months aging, the wine was prepared for packaging. We believe this to be a very good example of the variety, without the firm tannins often associated with Cabernet Sauvignon. It has elegance and strength. Cabernet Franc and Sauvignon Blanc are the two ancestors of Cabernet Sauvignon. Jancis Robinson has described it as ‘subtly fragrant and gently flirtatious’, a more ‘feminine side of Cabernet Sauvignon’.

Vintage Conditions

For the second consequetive year, the growing season was much drier than average with our vineyards receiving only 40% of the average annual rainfall from August to March. Despite that, excellent fruit set provided a more fruitful crop compared with recent years. February’s maximum temperature was about average, but all other months from October to March had warmer maximum and minimum temperatures, leading to earlier flowering, veraison and ripening. Our white varieties were picked in February to take advantage of lovely natural acidity. The red harvest was the ealiest that we can remember and the small berry size of the grapes produced full, rich styles with deep red colours and ripe tannin structure. 2017 is again an outstanding year in Coonawarra across all varieties.

Pack size: 6