Wine Code Breaker #343

Frost is a killer of crops and farming ingenuity can help manage this exposure.  The best though, is a site that has a natural buffer, and the sub-region of Porongurup in the Great Southern wine region of Western Australia is one.  Firstly, the Great Southern area is influenced by the Indian Ocean to the west and the Southern Ocean to the south and east.  Sea breezes can work their way inland to provide cooling relief in the Spring and Summer ripening months and warming influences in early Spring.  The Porongurup  area is towards the eastern boundary sitting above Albany and beside Mt Barker.  Granite knobs and eucalypt forests dominate a sloping landscape.  With vineyards located on the slopes, a naturally created thermal blanket reduces the risk of frost as the warm air slides down pushing the cold air down.

The 2018 Duke’s Magpie Hill Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon is from the sub-region of Great Southern’s Porongurup in Western Australia.  The colour is a lively and vibrant amalgam of dark dark reds and purples.  On the nose, cassis shines brightly with herbs of sage and bay leaf.  Touches of capsicum and hints of snap beans are complimented by a light seasoning of cedary oak.  The palate is classy and elegant with intense cassis, supported by mulberries and forest floor berries.  The herbs are subtle, the dark chocolate is glorious and the cedary oak is restrained deliciously on a bed of firm powdery tannins.  This has some time ahead of it if you are game.