2020 Trueman Cabernet Sauvignon *

A meld of 3 blocks, strewn with lighter silts, screes of ironstone and clay loams. Hand picked, cold soaked; pumped over in open-top fermenters. A minimum of 21 days on skins before élévage in French wood (50% new) for just over a year. As always, an immensely classy and richly flavoured wine, shaped as much by a curl of juicy, precise and beautifully alloyed tannins, as it is by the sheath of blueberry, currant, sage, graphite and dried herbs. The frame of cedar oak, all class. The finish is tenacious, ferrous and densely packed with a nascent energy auguring for much more to come. Bury this.

The blocks for this wine were planted between 1971 and 2002, each of them yielding little. The wine has 3% Malbec. Destemmed, sorted, cold soaked, pumped over on a daily basis and 21 days on skins. Basket pressed to new and used French barriques. Dark purple in hue, there is serious structure here. Firm and focused, dense and yet balanced. There are aromas of mocha, coffee grinds, blackcurrants, florals, dried fruits and chocolate. Excellent length, the intensity is maintained throughout and the finish is tied up neatly by those firm tannins. This is youthful, but has a good ten years plus ahead of it. Excellent warmer climate Cabernet.

Deep crimson. Classic blackcurrant, dark chocolate with roasted almond, roasted chestnut notes. Inky deep wine with beautiful blackcurrant pastille, roasted chestnut flavours, fine grainy textures and underlying cedar notes. Finishes chalky firm with seductive sweet fruit notes. A highly individual style with superb definition, fruit complexity, concentration and oak handling. 97% Cabernet Sauvignon, 3% Malbec. Maturation for around 16 months in 50% new and seasoned French oak barriques. Drink now – 2034