2018 Babich Irongate Gimblett Gravels Cabernet Merlot

"Blackberry, blueberry, cigar box and plum aromas. Inviting and warm with a touch of spice, charcuterie and well-integrated oak. Smooth and seamless with layers of sweet dark fruits, cocoa, leather, cedar and liquorish. Dense, concentrated and vibrant with a long finish. Extensive crop thinning produced excellent parcels of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc. These grapes were picked in the cool of evening and individually fermented in open vats before spending a lengthy time on skins to aid structural development. The wines were drained and put into new and seasoned 225L French oak casks. The wine spent a total of 15 months in oak."

"Made with cabernets sauvignon and franc with merlot showcasing aromas of fresh black fruits and tobacco, cigar box, graphite and plum. Other aromas include dried roses and iodine, balck olive and baking spice. Fabulous on the palate reflecting both varieties and place with flavours of dark berries and floral non-fruit attributes as well as a stony rocky mineral quality. Firm tannins and acidity suggest more integration time required or decanting if early drinking reuqired. A lengthy dry finish."

"Grown in the Irongate Vineyard and aged in French oak barriques (40 per cent new in 2016), this elegant, complex, firmly structured red is designed for cellaring. Retasted in April 2019, the 2016 vintage (5*) has promisingly deep, youthful colour. Fragrant and mouthfilling, it is well-structured, with deep blackcurrant, plum and spice flavours, oak complexity, good tannin backbone and excellent cellaring potential."