Winemaker Notes
The grapes were grown on the Belladarren vineyard in Langhorne Creek and the Prime vineyard in McLaren Vale.
Pairs with venison, BBQ spare ribs, blue cheese and roast lamb.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2009 Gigglepot Cabernet Sauvignon is produced from mostly McLaren Vale fruit with about 12% coming from Langhorne Creek. It was aged in 80% American oak and 20% French, 53% new. Very deep garnet-purple colored, it reveals an incredibly intense nose of both crushed fresh black currant and creme de cassis with underlying mint, dark chocolate, cassia and allspice aromas. Full-bodied and juicy fruited, there’s a nice harmony of structure and flesh on the palate with refreshing acid and medium-firm finely grained tannins. It finishes long and spicy. It's tempting forward now but should reward another year or two in bottle and drink to 2018+.
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Wine Spectator
Firm and fleshy, offering a juicy mouthful of ripe currant and cherry fruit. Gains welcome complexity, with hints of eucalyptus and bay leaf as the finish extends nicely. Neither the fruit nor savory notes prevail, creating a good tension. Drink now through 2013. 1,913 cases made.
A noble variety bestowed with both power and concentration, Cabernet Sauvignon enjoys success all over the globe, its best examples showing potential to age beautifully for decades. Cabernet Sauvignon flourishes in Bordeaux's Medoc where it is often blended with Merlot and smaller amounts of some combination of Cabernet Franc, Malbecand Petit Verdot. In the Napa Valley, ‘Cab’ is responsible for some of the world’s most prestigious, age-worthy and sought-after “cult” wines. Somm Secret—DNA profiling in 1997 revealed that Cabernet Sauvignon was born from a spontaneous crossing of Cabernet Franc and Sauvignon Blanc in 17th century southwest France.
Known for opulent red wines with intense power and concentration, McLaren Vale is home to perhaps the most “classic” style of Australian Shiraz. Vinified on its own or in Rhône Blends, these hot-climate wines are deeply colored and high in extract with signature hints of dark chocolate and licorice. Cabernet Sauvignon is also produced in a similar style.
Whites, often made from Chardonnay or Sauvignon Blanc tend to be opulent and full of tropical, stone and citrus fruit.