2023 Wallcliffe Cabernet Franc
"These mature cabernet franc vines from our Estate Vineyard provide consistently elegant yet powerful fruit year after year."
Our Wallcliffe series of wines are a limited edition of bottling that celebrates the highlights of each vintage, the finest parcels of fruit and the best barrel selection. Explore our diverse and surprising Margaret River terroir with the best varietal blend each season. 2023 is a pure expression of our stunning cabernet franc blocks delivering great presence and class, leaving a remakable, lasting memory!
Nose
Lifted aromas of wild cherries and blueberries, violets and lavender with cassis buds and purple floral highlights shining through. Fragrant, pretty spice notes of smoked paprika and toasted cumin complete the picture.
Palate
Beautiful poise on this juicy, driven palate, which is both bright and powerful at the same time. Glossy, supple tannins are well meshed and assertive, leaving you with lifted fruit characters and excellent potential for ageing.
Blend
100% cabernet franc
Cellaring
Ready for enjoyment on release, this wine can also be cellared for 10+ years.
Food Pairing Notes
Beef brisket dumplings in bone broth.
Black sesame burger with miso sauce.
Bresaola platter with shaved Parmigiano Reggiano and rocket.
The Vineyard
Our aim is to deliver grapes that are a true and vibrant expression of the vineyard site, with excellent tannin structure and ripeness. A range of precision viticulture techniques are included in our annual plans for each block, with the focus on canopy manipulation, ensuring air flow and sunlight penetration into the fruit zone. These mature cabernet franc vines from our Estate Vineyard provide consistently elegant yet powerful fruit year after year.
The 2023 season started with a mild spring leading into a dry and calm summer. Grapevine ripening continued steadily throughout, with harvest commencing mid-February. Overall, we experienced another beautiful Margaret River growing season.
Winemaking
The two cabernet franc vineyard blocks were hand picked in the early hours of the morning. After destemming and hand sorting, the fruit of both plots was combined and transferred by gravity in a small stainless steel fermenter, with selected yeast, without any crushing of the berries. Cap management operations were gentle and the maceration period reached 26 days. At the desired balance of fruit perfume and silky tannins, the wine was basket pressed with the pressing wines initially kept separated. The wine was matured in a combination of French barrel, including 22% new oak to complement the fruit tannins, along with a 320L clay Amphora to preserve the delicate fragrance of the cabernet franc. After 16 months of ageing, with no racking, the final blend remained unfined and was filtered prior to bottling in October 2024.
Analysis
14.5% alcohol
5.85 g/l total acidity
3.48 pH
Suitable for vegans
