2023 Joshua Cooper 'Dash Farms' Cabernet Sauvignon - Central Victoria, 750ml
For the certified claret-fancier.
Planted 1999 Dash Farms sits perched at over 450m asl on the Southern granitic slopes of Mt Alexander (Leanganook) looking back towards Mt Macedon and the Macedon Ranges. Like Ray-Monde, it sits just outside the Macedon Ranges GI. An extremely late ripening site for Cabernet Sauvignon, the fruit was harvested in late April. Hand harvested with strict fruit sorting in the vineyard, bunches were the 100% destemmed and partially foot crushed before loading into open fermenters where they remained for three weeks. The must was allowed to soak until natural fermentation commenced and then extracted with a combination of pumping over, delestage and pigage before basket pressing. Elevage took place in a combination of new Stockinger 300l (30%) and seasoned thin staved Bordeaux coopered barriques for 12 months, before four months in stainless steal after assemblage. The only addition to the wine is a small dose of sulphur. The mountainside nature of Dash Farm provides incredible freshness to the wine. Deep, inky purple with intense violet, seaweed and cassis, and graphite, sweet herb and spice attest to the cool nature of the site. Only medium weight though remarkably intense it presents as the most “Claret” style of the three Cabernet Sauvignon cuvees, full of small dark berry fruit with fine gravelly tannins. Incredibly satisfying in youth for its dark fruit and freshness, this cuvee will reward with additional complexity with medium term cellaring.
