PEGASUS BAY CABERNET FRANC 2021

Winery notes (2021 Vintage)
"It is the colour of ripe aubergine, with a fragrant nose packed full of dark fruit, perfume and spice. Suggestions of black cherry, boysenberry and dark plum, swagger seductively alongside touches of cinnamon, roast pepper, violet, and a hint of wet river gravel. Supple, plush and full of finesse, the palate swells to reveal a brightly painted canvas, oozing with sumptuous ripe fruit and polished, velvety tannins. A fine ribbon of minerality sways through the core of the wine, adding balance and a sense of persistency. Mouth-filling yet refined, it showcases sublime fruit weight and depth, as well as freshness and precision.

Cold weather during bud burst resulted in lower crop levels, hence no further fruit thinning was carried out. The subsequent warm dry summer served up perfectly ripened small berries full of intense flavour and concentration. Favourable conditions continued into autumn, allowing the grapes to be picked at their optimum ripeness.

Made using traditional Bordeaux methods, the grapes were picked in April and then left to ferment naturally. The wine was then gently pressed off and put into French oak barriques, where it was aged for 18 months. The following summer, when the weather warmed, it underwent a natural malo-lactic (secondary) fermentation."

Reviews for the 2020 vintage below…

5 Stars Michael Cooper (2020 Vintage)
"The impressive 2020 vintage was estate-grown and matured for 18 months in French oak barriques. Dark and full-bodied, it has deep, vibrant blackcurrant, plum and spice flavours, earthy and savoury notes adding complexity, and good tannin backbone. Best drinking mid-2024+. A youthful, generous red, it's well worth discovering."

Rated Excellent & 94/100 Cameron Douglas MS, June 2023 (2020 Vintage)
"Complex, muscular and new, aromas of dark berries and olives, some baked plum and myriad dark spices. Core fruit aromas suggesting kalamata and Doris plums, blackberries and five spice. Delicious on the palate, dry, taut, very youthful and engages all the palate sensors at once. flavours mirror the bouquet, tannins are firm and need some settling time, acidity is the back bone of this wine. Lengthy, complex and new a wine that needs more cellar time to flourish and show its potential. Decant for service or best drinking from early 2025 though 2032+."

5 Stars & 93/100 Sam Kim, Wine Orbit, June 2023 (2020 Vintage)
"Sweetly ripe and beautifully fragrant with dark berry, rich floral, game, dried herb and toasted nut characters, it's beautifully rounded on the palate displaying succulent fruit flavours with supple texture and loads of polished tannins. Varietally expressive and wonderfully structured with a persistent engaging finish. At its best: now to 2030."