Norfolk Rise Cabernet Sauvignon

Location and Aspect

Norfolk Rise Vineyard is located on the southern tip of South Australia and is renowned for its rugged coastline, exotic seafood and long, white sandy beaches. Heavily influenced by a unique microclimate, our Norfolk Rise Vineyard captures the specific regional characteristics of Mount Benson in producing cool climate wines of the highest calibre.

The Vineyard

Situated in the heart of Mount Benson, the Norfolk Rise Vineyard is planted on 180 hectares of undulating coastal hills. Within 5 kilometres of the ocean at 37 degrees south of the equator, our Cabernet Sauvignon is planted on near perfect “terra rossa”soils, providing an ideal level of nutrient and water retention. Completely surrounding our winemaking facility, Norfolk Rise Vineyard has been, without compromise, planted specifically to suit each individual variety.

Winemaking

The grapes were selectively harvested from our vineyards from mid April to early May. The Cabernet Sauvignon vineyards are low yielding and monitored daily for ripeness leading up to harvest. The 2010 growing season was very clean in terms of disease, so the grapes were allowed to ripen without pressure and harvested in ideal condition. The grapes were then de-stemmed, crushed and transferred to Ganimede fermentation tanks that allow for gentle extraction. A two-day cold soak was followed by fermentation at temperatures less than 25°C. The wine was held on skins for a few days post ferment. Following pressing, the wine was racked into 30% French oak barriques for 14 months. Individual barrels were selected for the final blend.