Our wine.

Our 2022 ‘Super Margs’ continues to draw influence from the highly sought after and respected Super Tuscan wines of Italy, which are typically made from Sangiovese and blended with non-indigenous varieties, in our case, the king of the Reds in Margaret River – Cabernet Sauvignon. This is out forth vintage of this wine and we have ‘upped the ante’ and taken it a step further by sourcing and then hand selecting the best fruit and barrels for this wine. This vintage all the fruit has been sourced from the Wilyabrup sub region of Margaret River. The wine is again bottled with cork to highlight the rare expression, elegance and sophistication of this wine style as well as giving the old world style a little nod.

2022 in Margaret River was a great vintage and proved once again that even years are great vintages in Margaret River! Things took a while to kick off with a cool, wintery spring and significant rainfall in October delaying the onset of budburst and flowering in the vineyards. Flowering and fruit sets were on the lighter side resulting in slightly lower yields dues to the spring conditions over the growing season and the one prior.

Summer was influenced by another La Niña season – beautifully dry, warm, sunny days right through December, January and February which lessened the disease pressure that was experienced with the wet and humid conditions of the previous vintage. Veraison was delayed by around a month, but the consistent heat saw a rapid ripening period in the whites, and the dry weather allowed for predictable ripening patterns across most varieties which made for a very organised and well-planned vintage.

Bird pressure was also low this vintage with perfectly timed Marri blossom which provided enough of a distraction to keep the silvereyes busy. The only challenge in the vineyard was the scorching Christmas heat wave resulting in some sunburn on some exposed white bunches which lowered the crop when they were dropped off prior to harvest. Yields were also lower than expected, influenced by the very dry conditions – especially for the vineyards which are dry grown which took a hit with lower bunch weights and smaller berries.

Both portions of fruit for the 2022 Super Margs come from Wilyabrup in Margaret River which is known for producing well ripened red varietals. This vintage, a warm and rapid veraison for reds saw both the Sangiovese and Cabernet Sauvignon’s desirable ripe flavours pronounce themselves quickly and beautifully with green characters falling away fast in these conditions.

On the whole, our general take on vintage 2022 is that wines will be characterised by intense aromatics, plush concentrated fruit, great structure and depth of flavour driven by good natural acidity. Even with the warmer conditions, the delicacy and elegancy wasn’t compromised. A stunningly epic vintage.

Both parcels were harvested with a selective harvester – taking berries off whole with little to no maceration whilst completing a first sort and allowing us to keep some whole berries in the ferment for a touch of carbonic goodness.

The Sangiovese was harvested on March 11, whilst the Cabernet Sauvignon was harvested later on April 6. Both parcels were fermented on skins with indigenous yeast in stainless steel tanks with gentle pump overs for 11-13 days. From there, the Sangiovese was pressed to larger format Hungarian oak, and the Cabernet Sauvignon was pressed to French oak barriques. The wine was then matured on oak for a period of 12 months. The best barrels of each were selected for this wine. The wine was coarsely filtered prior to bottling and then matured further in bottle before release.

Time spent in Italy influenced the decision to use Hungarian oak, where this was the preferred oak when working with Super Tuscan styles where the tighter grain tends to bring out a leaner, spicier element of the flavour profile of the oak. The stylistic aim of the winemaking was to continue to showcase a fruit forward wine with natural acidity and balanced savouriness, along with more structure and tannin focus. Sangiovese is the focal varietal in this wine, with the Cabernet Sauvignon providing the finesse, balance, and giving that distinctive Margaret River feel.

In a glass the wine presents with a wonderful inky core with a lighter crimson hue. The nose shows lifted aromas of red fruits that combine with blackcurrants and hints of dark chocolate.  The palate is rich and smoothly textured, yet displays youthfulness and vibrancy. The ripe fruit of the Cabernet Sauvignon provides richness and flavour, while the Sangiovese provides youthfulness, aromatics and overall acid to the blend.

The Cabernet also contributes classic layers of plums, and a touch of clove thanks to the French oak portion whilst the Sangiovese maintains spiciness from the Hungarian oak. This wine has a little more complexity mid-palate and a rich texture, which shows off stunning fruit and well-integrated tannins.