2015 Woodlands Vineyard 'Russell'

Woodlands Cabernet Sauvignon is produced from our original vines on our south facing slope. Each year we name it after a family member of family friend. For 2015 we have named our Cabernet “Russell” after Russell Cook. Famous not just for his winemaking but also for his Ironman pedigree, Russell has been a tireless supporter and an enormous help for our family for over 20 years.

Our Cabernet Sauvignon is sourced from our original plantings of Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec and Cabernet Franc found on our south-facing slope. The soil profile of this slope is generally sandy loam over gravel and clay. The top of the slope, where the Cabernet Franc is planted, has significantly more gravel in its soil. These four small plots receive the greatest number of sunlight hours on our vineyard, but the east-west orientation of the vines ensures a slow fruit maturation. These are the last batches we harvest each year.

2015 featured a generous winter and an abundant spring rainfall. We had very little rain from November until March, with warm and sunny conditions across the region.

Undesirable high winds at flowering time unfortunately led to lower crops of our Cabernet. However, having lower than normal yields, allowed the surviving fruit to develop more intense fruit flavours and character, therefore the wines produced from this year are aromatically fruit forward and rich in body.

This wine was harvested between 25th of March and the 9th of April, yielding 6.21 tonnes per hectare. After being picked, the fruit was destemmed before passing over our vibrating sorting table. Once sorted and crushed, this wine was fermented in small closed fermenters. Following fermentation, the Cabernet Sauvignon must remained on skins for 28 days before being pressed for the secondary malolactic fermentation to occur.

Afterwards, the wine was transferred into new French medium toast barrels to mature for 19 months.

The colour is bright crimson, deep rose red. The nose is very expressive with notes of mulberry, brambly red berry fruits, and toasty vanilla French oak.

The palate is supple and rich, with a seamless carry between red berry fruits, oak, and mineral tannin. The finish is cool, a nice contrast to the richness of the palate.

On the first night the wine was a little closed and subdued, and on the second night hints of aniseed and black fruits came to the forefront of the palate. By the third night, the wine looked glorious- revealing an underlying slate like texture- very mineral and very fine. With air this wine is much more complex, and shows less of the primary fruit flavours.

This wine is a powerhouse, and a great standard bearer for the 2015 vintage. It’s dense without being sweet, and complex while remaining fresh. Best enjoyed from 2025 to 2030.